The Secret Of Time
by OceanMist9
Summary: Alone, again. How tired was she of the silence that bled through her ears, of the shadows whose whispers sliced her heart? Rylin is lonely. And this time, she won't be able to save herself, not without those she has loved in past lives. Rylin/Nico.
1. Prologue

This story has been practically begging me to be written; like a ghost it wanders into my dreams, waking and asleep. So finally I will tell his story.

Hey, all I have to say is, Fell, I'm sorry I didn't write it earlier. You've inspired me in so many ways and I don't even know how to begin thanking you. You're the side of me that never existed, the vision in my head that makes me do crazy things.

So here it is.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Percy Jackson, but all the demititans I own, as well as Jay, Cherry, Sal, and Fell. They're all MINE.

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**(time is the reason for the secret)**

We all have secrets. Some could be huge, like Area 51 or what really happened at Roswell, Mexico. And some could be slightly lesser than that, like when someone likes someone else, and they don't want anybody to know. But somehow, that secret gets told, and then it really isn't a secret anymore.

My secret is the biggest of them all. It's not like I've told anyone, but plenty of people know anyway, and it's been kept for centuries. Mortal people like you have been kept ignorant for just as long. But if you're reading this, and it makes sense to you, I'd run away as fast as you can. Because it means you're one of us. And once you know, the secret's out.

And the wrong people always find out.

I'm sure you've heard of Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon. Thalia, daughter of Zeus. Nico, son of Hades. But where there is one side, there is always the opposite. Good vs. Evil, every time. But evil isn't always actually evil. They're usually just the misunderstood guys who just want to be noticed.

And yeah, I'm talking about Kronos. Prometheus. Gaia. All of the Titans, really. The children of the gods think they're the only demigods in the world, but they're wrong. Dead wrong. The gods aren't the only ones who can father heroes.

Yeah, Kronos has a son.

Me.

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R&R please! I know this sounds kinda strange but don't be afraid to give it a try!


	2. Chapter 1

I promise you, I'll end up fitting the demigods in here eventually. You'll just have to deal with it until I do. Enjoy :)

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**(the flames are born among the old ashes)**

Cherry just looked at me in silence, her strange electric green eyes mysteriously glowing. I wish she'd stop staring, because I'd heard rumors about those eyes. They could make you go insane with one wink, make you suicidal with just a blink. But I wasn't afraid.

Not one bit.

Cherry's mother was Gaia, the Titan of nature. I'd actually witnessed this first-hand, because last year at camp she had almost strangled me against a tree when we had been playing capture the demigod. I had just crossed the borderline between our two teams and next thing I know these vines had quickly grown out of the ground, slamming me against an elm and snaking their way up to my neck.

I remembered Cherry grinning at me. _"Can't freeze time now, can you?"_

"_You wish," I muttered back. The hand she had reached toward me was slowly growing wrinkly, shriveling up into itself. Cherry squealed as she snatched her now skeletal hand back._

"_Stop it!" The vines dropped me and I thudded against the ground, my hand raised to pull out my elemental sphere. I threw it hard at her feet, wincing when I heard the glass break._

_Wind whirled around Cherry, buffeting her feet out from under her. She landed on her butt with a groan. I jumped up, racing back to my side of the border while holding in my laughter._

"_Coward!" she yelled after me._

_Oh. I feel _**sooo**_ guilty now._

_Fell was the first one to come dashing back over the border, his hand flashing to the flaming spear he had strung across his back. I watched the fifteen-year-old twirl through the ranks of the enemy, his spear dispatching at least half of them before they knew what hit them. I followed quietly, reaching the hill where the dummy stood, tied to a wooden pole sticking up out of the ground._

_Just so you know, many years ago, all the demititans had grown tired of hearing the word dummy. Whoever won capture the demigod would always say "Muahaha! I have stolen your dummy, you dummies!" And that just wasn't right. So, years ago, the dummy's name was given. The first camper, Zeke Lyell Frankfort Sarrow Ren Warrensburger, gave the dummy the name Bobensniberklienfellow._

_We just called him Bob._

_Sal stood watch, his flickering grey eyes missing nothing. I smiled manically as I eyed the pool just below him._

"_Someone should push him in," I whispered to Fell as he snuck up behind Sal. I knew he heard me, because of the small smile quirking up at the right side of his mouth. I reached for the dummy. Several things happened at once._

_A ton of vines grew up around me, whistling through the air at my face. Fell tripped over one and bumped into Sal, who in turn tumbled off the cliff into the waiting water below, his face completely white. Cherry appeared where Sal had stood, her electric eyes glinting._

"_Gotcha."_

_I just smiled at her. She realized a second too late._

_Time froze around me, everything hanging in the air. The look of shock on Cherry's face was completely hilarious, her eyes glaring her patented 'I'm-going-to-kill-you-later' look. I turned back around to the dummy hanging on the pole._

"_Just you and me now, buddy," I muttered. I grabbed it off the pole, my eyes flashing over the fake smile plastered on its face. Stupid demigods, I thought rapidly. They always thought they were better, just because _**they**_ had fancy summer camps and rich parents. The demititans had done nothing to deserve being treated like dirt. One day we would show them; one day we would kick the smiles off their conceited faces. But for now, I would settle for kicking their dummy selves around. It was quite satisfying, actually._

_I spun time around, transporting me immediately to where I had been five minutes earlier, which was by the creek. Bob twisted around limply in my hands as I stepped over the border and unfroze time. A win for the red team!_

_There was a large celebration that night at camp, the biggest ever. We had never had anything to celebrate before, so we worked extra hard. Cherry filled the camp with beautiful flowers, wreathing about every cabin and shrine on campus. Delilah cooked up a storm of hot dogs and pizza, the smell so delicious that it drew all of us to the kitchen._

"_No!" she said, whacking Jared over the head with a pizza roller. "Not until dinner," she added as she slammed it down on my hand as I was reaching for her cooling brownies. I withdrew, pretending to look hurt. She just winked at me and turned to warn Sal away from the pizza._

_The demigods may think they're better than us, but I bet they aren't as close as the demititans. We've been together for years, and our numbers are steadily growing now that my father is back._

_Give us a couple years and the demigods won't know what hit 'em._

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Two years later

I shook my head, scattering the memory. Cherry was still looking at me funny, her eyes still glowing in that weird, alien way of hers. At least she wasn't setting any man-eating, ravenous species of plant on me. I took that as a signal that I should start talking. Fast.

"Sal wants to know if you want to go on the quest with him. Fell and I are going-"

"Is this just some scheme to get me to go out with him? I'm getting tired of this, Jay. Be honest for once." Her voice was dramatic. If there was one thing I had learned about Cherry from the minute I had stepped over the border into camp, it was that she was the Queen of drama. And that's not always a good thing when you're surrounded by enemy demigods carrying swords.

"I am being honest," I insisted. "What do you want me to say? That Sal-" I looked around the cabin. No one was listening in; they were all completely absorbed in video games and makeovers. "-likes you?"

"If that's the truth." Cherry flicked a piece of confetti off her shirt. Delilah's birthday was in less than four days, and we were filling the practice cannons with the stuff. Delilah was really going to get a surprise when she floated out of bed on Saturday (I mean literally with the floating-flying is just her thing).

"You know it is," I replied, rolling my eyes. "Ever since he got here he's been chasing you, Cherry."

She looked sincere, with her emerald eyes and the way she leaned up against the bedpost. But I knew Cherry way better than that. Inside she was groaning. Sal had always annoyed her, from his voice down to his one-ton Hellhound that followed him everywhere. But Sal was one of my best friends, and I didn't want to just leave him hanging.

"Please. If you won't go for Sal, then go for me. Think of it, the glamour of completing the first quest in ages! Fell says we might actually get to fight real demigods." I let my excitement weave through my words, practically ripping them to ribbons.

Cherry sighed. "I hardly care what Fell thinks. But it would be nice to get the real deal instead of the fake." She shifted. "I'm tired of just fighting each other. We aren't even allowed to fatally wound!"

"If you were allowed to do that, I would have died years ago." I muttered darkly. Cherry was the best in camp with swords, aside from Fell. She could disarm me in five seconds flat. Without a sword.

My real skills were in archery and spells. I had been practicing for almost a decade.

"Dang." Her face fell. "There goes all my fun."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"No you won't!" I leapt up, neatly dodging Vera, who was standing at the door with wide eyes. I hastily ran out the door, but wasn't fast enough. A huge flower sprouted from the ground in front of me, its vines wreathing across the ground. I heard Cherry breathing lightly behind me, her sneakers treading lightly against the dirt as she cut off the route to the cabin.

The flower turned around. It had long, fanged teeth and slits for eyes, with razor thorns covering every inch of it. It looked like one of those carnivorous fly trap plants, but try magnifying that at least a hundred times. It loomed over me, acid dripping to the ground from its mouth. It melted a hole in the asphalt between my sneakers.

I laughed.

The flower wilted, turning quickly into a dried up stem. The petals fell like confetti around me, bursting in color. Power surged over me, and I struggled briefly to control it. If I lost control, every single human within a hundred miles could turn into a dry, withered up old person.

The thought of Cherry as an old person was enough to make me laugh. The power receded back, deep into my heart where it lay sleeping while it waited for me to call on it. I relaxed as I turned back to Cherry.

"Trying to kill me, Cherry?" I asked, holding my hand over my heart. "Oh my poor, old heart! I can't take it!"

She burst out laughing. "You're such an idiot, Jay. I should strangle you."

"So will you come?" I asked when we had calmed down.

Cherry looked at me with those electric green eyes. Slowly she nodded.

"Only cause you asked me to."

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New direction, new camp, new heroes, yeah. Basically the opposite of Camp Halfblood, Camp Fireblood is home to all the demititans- you'll find out about it later. R&R please!!!


	3. Chapter 2

You know who writes this story? I DO. And what makes me happy? The answer is REVIEWS.

So c'mon people, review please! I promise I'll give you a chocolate sundae! Or maybe one of Mrs. Ominous's famed knickerbocker glories!

All you have to do is review...that'll make the author happy :)

Disclaimer: Everyone in the story so far is MINE. Except the idea of the demigods, and all Rick Riordan's mythology.

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**(immersed in dreams, the countdown begins)**

I followed the path back to my cabin in a daze. Cherry and I had stayed up hours after curfew to work on Delilah's party, us being the only ones who were willing to slave our entire lives to the project. Fell had stopped by on his way to our cabin, dropping in to let us know he'd gotten the naiads to do music.

I coughed, rubbing my throat. I had spent almost the entire time arguing with Jared over Delilah's favorite color. I know, stupid, right? But this party had to be absolutely perfect. It would be my last celebration before I left camp for the quest. Not to mention Fell's, Cherry's, and Sal's last party, too. And you never knew what party would be your last. Quests for demititans were always extremely difficult, and barely anyone ever came back alive.

Especially at Camp Fireblood.

The door creaked open when I pushed, sending shivers up my spine. My eyes roved over the darkness, picking out the outlines of our furniture, the only sofa in the entire camp. Beds were pushed against the far wall, and one glance told me my friends hadn't gone to sleep.

The lamp flickered on. Fell was lounging on the sofa, Sal leaning against the armrest. They were both staring at me, Fell's dark eyes laughing and Sal's eyes completely serious.

"Young man, do you know what time it is? Curfew was two hours ago." Fell said, his voice pretending to be low and adult-like. "You're grounded!"

Sal and I rolled our eyes at each other.

"Just ignore him. Do NOT make eye contact," Sal instructed, politely looking away from Fell. I avoided him as well as I settled down in the armchair closest to the door. I sunk deep into it, curling my arms around my legs as I stared across the room at the bulletin board.

"By the way," Fell added, his voice returning to normal, "Nice job with Cherry. You really have her wrapped around your finger."

Sal's head whipped around at the mention of Cherry. "You got her to go on the quest?"

I nodded. "She's completely psyched at the idea of being able to fight somebody who isn't you, Fell."

He grinned at me, turning to look at Sal. "She totally creamed me last week. Disarmed me with one flick of the wrist and almost sent my sword through Delilah's head. She was standing like twenty feet away. Delilah started freaking out. It was hilarious."

We talked a little bit longer about sword practice that week, how Brynne had accidentally broke Nadia's arm by falling on it after tumbling down the mess hall's fifteen flight staircase (she claims she was pushed, and after Fell cracked up a few times we left the subject alone), and Maya falling into the lake (Fell was strangely absent from sword practice that day).

"Just think about it," Sal sighed. "In a couple of days we'll be out in the real world, fighting off demigods." He raised his Coca-Cola can in a toast.

"We'll kick serious butt," Fell agreed, holding his Pepsi can up to Sal's.

"To demititans," I announced, lifting my can of Mountain Dew. We all drank, and soon Sal nodded off against the couch, his head lolling. I waited until he was snoring before I turned to Fell.

"So how did you get Cherry to go?" Fell asked, his voice serious for once.

"She's only coming because of me. She said I'm such an idiot that I'll get killed on the first day." I rolled my eyes. "It's only a bonus for her that she gets to fight."

"I see," he said, and this time he sounded drunk. I looked over at Fell, watching him for a few seconds before realizing he had fallen asleep. His chest rose and fell gently in the low light.

I looked past him at the glow-in-the-dark clock. It read at 2:26 A.M. I sighed as I got up, padding quietly over to my bunk. I slipped gratefully under the covers, welcoming the sudden warmth against my body.

In only a couple days I would leave it all behind. Despite myself, I was nervous.

Any one of us might not come back.

My eyes closed tiredly, and against my will I fell into a deep sleep, my dreams all I had left in the world.

* * * * * * * * * *

We walked alongside the road, the sun warming our backs. The countryside flowed around us, and I couldn't help but feel happy as I followed Fell, his sneakers crunching against the gravel.

"Are we there yet?" Fell complained to Sal, who was ahead of him.

"Nope." I heard his hands clench and unclench. That was about the tenth time Fell had asked in the last five minutes.

A car slowly rolled behind us. I looked both ways down the road nervously. We hadn't seen a car for miles. An ominous feeling rose up in me as it suddenly put on speed, skidding across the road to turn sideways and block our path. The doors exploded open, and a sea of dark shadows spilled out, circling us. We immediately formed a circle of our own, our backs to the middle. Cherry stood to my left, her sword glinting in her hand. Fell was on my right, electricity jolting out from the spear he held casually in his hand.

"You led us into a trap, Sal!" Cherry gritted her teeth. I felt anger pulsing off her, the waves crashing over me forcefully.

I yanked an arrow out, setting the shaft along my bow. I looked down it, aiming for the closest shadow. It advanced menacingly on me, its red eyes glowing. I instinctively released the arrow, and watched as it sped through the shadow's forehead. It fell to the ground, and I gaped in horror.

Delilah was lying where the shadow had fallen, twitching feebly. The shaft of the arrow protruded from her forehead.

I turned to yell. But then I saw the rest of my party were mowing the opponents down, grim determination on their faces. They didn't even notice that the ones falling around them were their friends.

"Stop!" I yelled hoarsely. But no one heard.

I watched as a shadow knocked Sal to the ground, slipping its sword into him. He didn't move. I tried to shout, tried to yell a warning as a shadow snuck up behind Fell. I watched helplessly as he crumpled to the ground, his eyes closed.

A warm hand grabbed mine, and I whipped around to see Cherry.

"Come on!" She called. "We have to go!" She dragged me to a tree by the side of the road, grabbing a branch and hauling herself up. "Jay, we have to climb!"

I looked back at Fell and Sal, lying dead. As I watched they rose up, becoming shadows with red eyes that flowed smoothly into the army of floating specters. They treaded softly after me and Cherry, slowly and deliberately.

"NO!" I yelled, my eyes still focused on the dead Fell and Sal. Cherry yanked me up the tree after her, and unconsciously I began to climb.

Cherry's flaming hair flashed in front of me. "Hurry up, slowpoke. They're gonna catch us!" She climbed higher, the tree instantly growing new limbs for her to clamber up on. My hand slipped, and suddenly I was dangling, the ground at least fifteen feet below me. I tried to heft myself up, but the limb I was holding onto was bending dangerously.

"Cherry!" I cried.

She looked back at me, and I suddenly caught sight of her eyes. They were pitch black.

"Let go, demititan. Let go," a cold voice whispered in my mind. 'You cannot fight it."

But I could try.

I fought. I struggled to pull myself up onto the branch with all the strength I had left. But it wasn't enough. I felt myself falling, the air exploding around me. My back hit the ground, hard enough to break it, causing me an ocean of pain.

The specters were gathering around me, and the cold froze me in place. I couldn't move.

They closed over me, darkness smothering my every breath.

I had lost.

* * * * * * * * * *

I woke up, breathing heavily. I was drenched in sweat, beads of it running down my forehead and along my arms. I tried to take a deep breath.

The dream last night had been the worst of them all. I usually had nightmares anyway, so it wasn't a big deal, but nobody had ever died in them before. Especially not my best friends.

I scrambled out of bed, glancing at the clock. 7:42 A.M. Still early. I looked over at the couch, relieved to see Fell still sleeping on the sofa. He was clearly still alive, tossing every couple minutes or so. I heard a creak behind me, and I turned to see Sal rolling over in his bunk, still deeply asleep. Relief washed over me, and I settled back down in the armchair I had sat in last night, leaning back and trying to calm myself.

_The dream wasn't real_, I told myself. _They're still alive and they're fine._

I finally managed to convince myself, so I crept quietly back to my bed and got ready to take a shower. I didn't want to freak them out when they woke up by looking like I had seen a ghost.

When I got back, Fell was sitting up, curled up against the pillows and listening to his IPod. Sal was still asleep, so I went and sat down next Fell, who opened one dark grey eye and looked at me. He pulled out one of the earbuds.

"Bout time you started waking up early, sleeping beauty," he muttered, closing his eye. I grabbed a pillow from my side of the couch and thumped him on the side of the head. He flinched, yanking out both earbuds.

"What the heck, Jay!" Fell growled, wounded. I laughed at his indignant expression.

"I had another nightmare last night," I whispered, looking warningly toward Sal. Fell lowered his voice.

"Must've been really bad, man. You look like you've just seen a ghost." Fell replied, fingering his IPod in his lap. As I watched, his eyes slowly melted to a lighter, golden shade, giving his eyes the color of caramel.

A feeling of dread rushed through me, exactly like it had in the dream. Except this time it was real. "You and Sal died, Fell." I shivered.

"I suppose that left you alone with Cherry," Fell added dryly. But I could tell he was still shaken up inside.

"Yeah, it did," I admitted uncomfortably. "Don't tell Sal."

He winked at me cheerfully. "You can count on me. So are you going to tell me exactly what happened in this dream of yours? Or am I going to have to torture you?"

Well, Fell can be pretty scary when he wants to be, so I told him everything. He looked thoughtfully at me, his eyes flickering between caramel and dark chocolate.

"Is it possible it might happen? Or do you just think I'm being too paranoid?"

"Definitely paranoid." Fell said confidently. "But…maybe." His confident voice faltered for a second.

"Paranoid about what?" Sal suddenly cut in groggily. He leaned on his elbows, looking down at us from the top bunk.

"Jay had a dream last night. _He_ says that we're all going to die." Fell sounded ironically cheerful. "C'mon Jay, I'd stop stressing over it. It's not like you're the Oracle or anything." A bitter edge crept into his tone. It was a well-known fact around camp that the Oracle of prophecy had resided at the demigod Camp Halfblood for the last couple centuries. It was something us demititans didn't take lightly. It made us blind to everything, without any prophecies to guide us in quests or to warn us of danger. The demigods were definitely spoiled.

But it also made us more powerful in a way. We had no need to depend on anyone but ourselves and each other. We didn't follow rules of any kind, so we weren't restricted at all. With prophecies, it guided your destiny because it always told you what you should do. Not what your heart told you to.

That was Demititan Lesson One: never mention the Oracle if you could help it.

We both stared at Fell in shock. His eyes turned light blue as they dropped down to his IPod in his hand.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," he said quickly, getting up and crossing the room in two strides. The door slammed behind him, the awkward silence following him out.

"Okay," Sal said, dragging out the a. The silence was clogging me, and I finally stood up, reaching for my sweatshirt hanging from the peg by the door. "I gotta go too, Sal. Cherry's expecting me for archery. See you later." I refused to meet his questioning gaze as I followed Fell out the door.

The morning breeze was cool on my face, and I welcomed it as a distraction from what was going on. As far as I knew, cabin nine had never had as awkward a silence as what we had just now. Usually we were rowdy, raucously annoying, and above all, we were never down in the dumps. That just wasn't us.

Especially not Fell.

Cherry had told me all about the day Fell had arrived at Camp Fireblood. She was the only camper who had been here almost her entire life; she had been born right outside the border.

I still remembered our entire conversation…

"_Who's he?" I asked nervously. The red head turned to glare at me, then turned to look at who I had pointed at. Her gaze softened almost imperceptivity._

"_Fell," she said, her voice just a sigh on the wind. "He's been here for two years at least. His mom was killed by a demigod in Los Angeles. He found this place all by himself."_

_I looked at the kid sitting all by himself, alone and away from the rowdy group sitting at the picnic table. His head was down, and he seemed to be concentrating. I watched as a sphere of water rose from the nearby pool, floating over to him. It was pulsing as he reached out to touch it._

"_Hi," I said, looking at him through the water. It made his face look all distorted. "I'm Jay. Who are you?"_

_The water ball suddenly dropped at my feet, spattering me with water. The kid looked shocked. "Aren't you going to hang out with them?" he asked in a whisper, pointing at the gaggle of kids._

"_Why?"  
"Everyone always wants to hang out with them."_

_I hadn't realized it, but the nine-year-old red head, Chelsea, had come up behind me._

"_How did you get over here so fast?" She asked me as her face scrunched up._

"_I can freeze time," I muttered, hoping that they wouldn't hear. But they did. The kid, Fell, stared at me with wide eyes. Then he looked away, back toward the kids._

"_Let's start over," he said. "I'm Fell Cademan."_

"_Jay Sylver," I bowed._

"_Cherry Donner at your service," Chelsea said. "C'mon Jay, we've got to go. Explore the rest of the camp, and all that stuff." She took a few steps away from Fell._

"_Okay," I said reluctantly. Then I turned back to the kid still watching the crowd._

"_Meet me at the mess hall on tomorrow," I whispered. "You can sit with me." Cherry grabbed my arm and began to drag me away. _

_And that, my friends, was the first time I ever saw Fell smile._

_* * * * * * * * * *  
_

Okay. I know that was a pretty pathetic reason for him to smile. But you have to remember, I was only about seven, and Fell was probably around the same age. And he NEVER had any friends before me. Or maybe he did, and they were super secret spies that if he told me about he'd have to murder me. I just don't know.

Not that I ever will.

So I shivered, even though I was wearing my warmest sweatshirt. And the fact that it was almost a hundred out didn't bother me.

What bothered me was that someone might die.

Someone that I cared about.

* * * * * * * * * *

A wise Australian Eskimo once said, "I may have bumped the jump, but that doesn't mean I've lost my bingo trap. You know what I'm sayin?"

Yes. Yes I do.

The Eskimo wants some serious reviewin, people. And you probably should give him what he wants, if you don't want a mouthful of raw fish. Or if you don't want to be tossed in the ocean with a hook embedded in your pants. R&R!!


	4. Chapter 3

Mmm. Soon I might upload a list of all the demititans at Camp Fireblood. It could get a little confusing in the future. Does anyone ever listen to music while they type? Cause I do, and I feel weird for it.

Disclaimer: The plot is MINE!!! The demititans are MINE!!! The idea of mythology is...not mine :(

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**(the curse is laid on those with a taint of fate)**

The morning of the quest was absolutely the best morning ever, hands down.

The sun had shown up, beaming brightly through my window. The doorbell rang, making me get up out of bed earlier than I would have liked. But the person at the door soured everything up a bit.

I opened it to see Abbey standing there, her mouth already zooming at one million miles a minute.

"Ohmigosh, jayimsogladyourstillhere-areyouexcitedcauseiam," she said, without taking a single breath. (translated into: Oh my gosh, Jay. I'm so glad you're still here! Are you as excited as I am?)

"So, whatsyourquestabout? Areyougoingtohavetogofaraway? Causethatwouldmakemesad&upset." She added before I had time to say anything. (Another translation: So what's your quest about? Are you going to have to go far away? Cause that would make me sad and upset.)

I sighed minutely. Abbey always made me feel like I needed a nap. "I don't know what the quest is about. We'll find out later."

She opened her mouth. But I was faster.

"I have to go, Abbey. See you later." And then I shut the door in her face.

"She'll just keep coming back, you know," Fell's voice sounded behind me. "She really likes you."

"What do YOU know about girls?" I inquired politely, waiting for his blank face. But he surprised me, as Fells everywhere are known to do.

"Plenty," he said mysteriously, his eyes flipping between green and blue. Sal snorted behind him, spraying the counter with Sprite.

"Would you like a translation, Mr. Sylver?" Sal said in an official voice. "The translation from Fellese to English is as follows; I know nothing, absolutely nothing about girls. For questions of that nature you will have to ask Sal the Magnificent."

"Don't you mean Sal the Idiot? Sal the Stuck Up Know It All?" Fell broke in. I could tell he was just teasing, but still Sal turned a little red. He was opening his mouth for a retort when his eyes slipped past me.

I whipped around. Cherry was standing behind me, her emerald eyes lighting up.

"Hey guys," she said, giving a little finger wave. Fell burst into little, muffled giggles behind me, while Sal turned even more red.

"Hey, Cherry," I said.

"What's up?" Fell asked from behind me. I could hear Sal rummaging through the fridge, pretending to be looking for something.

"I heard about your little girlfriend, Jay," Cherry said as she brushed by me to sink down into the sofa next to Fell. "She was telling everybody about your little date last week."

"It wasn't a date," I mumbled, but I was sure Fell and Sal couldn't hear me over their sniggering. Raising my voice, I said, "We got partnered up for sword practice. How could that possibly be a date?"

"In Abbey's mind, everything's a date," Cherry explained. Then she bit her lip. "I take that back. Anything with _you_ in it's a date."

I sighed as I fell into the armchair. "Any gentle ways of getting rid of her?"

Fell opened his mouth.

"No, feathering and tarring her don't count. And I'm NOT going to feed her to Tiny, Sal." I added. Tiny was his purebred Hellhound. Luckily for me, she was NOT coming on the quest with us.

He shrugged, not looking nearly ashamed enough in my view. "The only way to avoid her is to get yourself killed on the quest."

"Okay," I said. All three of them looked at me like I was insane. I tried to look like I was actually considering it.

"You better not," Sal threatened me with a ladle.

"You're right. You know what won't leave evidence of a suicide? If you eat Sal's cooking." Fell said, jumping off the sofa. Sal advanced on him with a mad look in his eyes, brandishing the ladle like it was the most dangerous thing in the world. I settled down next to Cherry as I watched Sal chase Fell around with random kitchenware.

"You know, I'm actually looking forward to this quest a little," I said, watching out of the corner of my eye as Sal traded the ladle for a meat cleaver. "Especially the fighting."

"Of course. It'll actually be for real. I'm just so excited!" Cherry bounced up and down. Behind her Sal slipped on some of the Sprite he had sprayed earlier, the meat cleaver hitting the ground with a resounding crack. He stood up shakily, and switched the cleaver with a butter knife.

"If I kill you with this, it'll barely leave a scratch, Fell! You won't even feel the pain." Sal sounded completely insane.

Someone knocked at the door. Our heads all swung around at the same moment.

"It's time, guys," Delilah said. Sal sadly set down the butter knife with a whispered "Later," that no one was supposed to hear. Cherry and I stood up, Fell pushing to be the first one out. I could tell he didn't want to be last in the cabin with Sal.

The quest was waiting.

* * * * * * * * * *

I slung the quiver across my back, gently slipping my bow in with the silver arrows. The arrows were the most perfect I had ever seen, and they were a gift from Delilah. I looked around the weapons room, my gaze skittering over Cherry, Sal, and Fell.

Fell was running his hand up and down a bronze spear that was crackling with electricity, examining it with one experienced eye. He must have liked what he saw, because he put it in the small bag at his feet, and moved on to swords. Cherry was already looking over our sword collection, and she picked out a thin silver one. Fell went over to her, arguing in a low voice. Sal, completely oblivious, was stuffing his bag full of mini powdered doughnuts from the vending machine. He dropped in the remaining drachmas for our journey, the coins clinking against each other gently. He looked up at me, then looked over at Fell and Cherry, both of them having decided they would wrestle each other for the sword.

I rolled my eyes. "Break it up!" Cherry pinned Fell against the ground, then looked down, grinning at him.

"Don't get between a girl and her weaponry," she warned him, hefting her huge backpack and scooping up the sword. She dramatically left the tent, her red hair fluttering in the breeze. Fell looked after her, his blue eyes sparkling.

I held out a hand to him. "Hey, good effort."

He took it, shaking his head. "I went easy on her. That sword wasn't worth the effort."

"Whatever," Sal said icily. I tipped my head as I looked at him. His face was downcast, and he was glaring hard at the ground, almost as if he could melt it with one glance. I pulled Fell up and followed Cherry out, not wanting to get caught up in their fight.

The whole camp had gathered around the fountain today, their enthusiastic faces all turned toward us. I took my place by Cherry's side, waiting for Sal and Fell to emerge.

Fell was the first one out, and I could tell by his face things hadn't gone well with Sal. He loped up to us, standing on my other side.

"What's up?" I asked him in a low voice.

"Sal," was his reply, "thinks I like Cherry."

I almost burst out laughing. "Yeah right. You're more likely to fall in love with a naiad then with Cherry." I looked into his eyes and saw the sadness growing in them, blossoming to life in front of me.

"Try telling Sal that," Fell said, turning his head the other way as said person stepped out into the sunlight, his eyes squinting. He stopped beside Cherry, his mouth a stubborn, angry line.

The whole camp looked at us for a second, completely silent. Then they erupted into loud cheers, and Delilah came up to us.

"Alright, guys." Her brow furrowed in confusion as she held up a slip of paper. "Wait, that can't be right." She examined the paper again. Her eyes widened.

"No," she said in a whisper. "That isn't it! Tell me this isn't happening."

I didn't understand what she was getting so worked up about. The paper had been sent from the Titans, telling us what quest they wanted us to undertake. Of course, if we refused to go on it, the penalty was death, but I had no doubts about that. Surely they would have given us something easy, since this was the first quest that had been announced for at least a century. What was wrong?

"Your quest is," Delilah said in a shaky voice, her hand holding the note trembling, "kidnap the Oracle from Camp Halfblood." A tear leaked itself down her face, shining in the sunlight.

All four of us froze. We all looked at each other, the only movement the trembling of Delilah's hand. The entire camp fell silent.

"No way," Fell spoke up from my side. "That's suicide. We can't."

"We don't have a choice!" Sal snarled at him. For the first time I felt Fell shrinking back, his eyes wide. "We're dead if we don't!"

I looked up at the sky, praying that it was a joke. WE couldn't do this! There were only four of us, and there were more than a hundred demigods at Camp Halfblood. I doubted I could freeze all of them at the same time. It would take up too much power.

"I'm sorry!" Delilah burst into tears. "But you have to do it or they'll kill all of us!" She ran away sobbing, her face in her hands.

I looked at Cherry. "I'll do it."

To my surprise, she nodded. "So will I." We both looked toward Fell.

His eyes were hardening into silver. "I'm in."

We all turned to Sal. He bit his lip, his eyes turning fiery. "You'll need someone to guard your backs. Of course I'll come."

Looking at my loyal friends, all willing to do whatever it would take to protect the camp, I knew we had what the demigods didn't-family. Because no matter what, I would give my life to protect all of them.

But then the seed of dread grew in me once again, and I wondered, not for the first time, who wouldn't be returning home.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hmm. So this is where Rachel enters into the story...R&R!!


	5. Chapter 4

My apologies for taking so long to write this chapter! I woke up this morning, looked at it, and realized it wasn't finished, and I was going to update Secret today! So I hurriedly added the ending (that's why it's kinda crappy), but I still hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Everything so far is mine. The demititans are, at least. Not the whole idea of mythology.

* * * * * * * * * *

**(the path splits in two; which way shall you go?)**

"Four tickets, please," Fell said calmly. The lady looked at him as if he'd just proclaimed himself to be the Prince of Switzerland. He leaned against the wall outside the window, clearly in her view. I was smiling, probably because he was so unaware of the effect he had on her, the effect he always had on any girl. Apparently his mysterious air was enough to cause any one of the female population to start hyperventilating.

"Eight dollars, please," she practically drooled. Fell slid the money across the counter to her and winked. She almost dropped dead in a faint.

"You shouldn't tease them like that, Fell." I commented once we had settled down on the subway. "One of these days girls are going to start dropping dead. I'll be forced to turn you in to the police."

"You wouldn't do that," Fell said confidently. "Well, maybe Sal would."

Sal ignored him, staring out the window. He hadn't said a word since he had announced that he was coming with us on the quest. I was worried about him. Surely Fell hadn't gotten him that angry? Sal knew that Fell would never deliberately do something to hurt him, much less fall in love with Cherry. Why he was being so stubborn, well I guess I would never find out.

"No, I would," Cherry said sternly. "I'd be the only girl left alive in the world."

I scoffed at that. "You're giving Fell too much credit, Cherry."

"Oh yeah? Well I know a person who knows a girl who knows a guy who knows a certain girl who's in love with a certain guy. And that certain girl isn't in love with that certain guy's best friend, no, she's in love with that certain guy." She replied, examining her nails. She knew I wouldn't be able to control myself after what she had just said.

"Well that certain guy isn't interested," I shot back. "That certain girl should understand and just leave that certain guy alone! He's got bigger problems!" I found myself seething. "That certain guy's two best friends are fighting, and he has a huge fear that somebody won't survive for the next week, because he had a stupid dream that totally freaked him out! So all that girl is doing is adding straw to the guy's already heavy back," I added angrily. "He doesn't need any more problems, and if that girl doesn't give up he'll crumble under the pressure."

Fell's eyes were wide. Cherry's were just as huge. She must not have expected such a huge blow out from me, as I always held my feelings in check and never exploded under pressure.

"Does Abbey really drive you that crazy?" Cherry whispered.

Wait. We were talking about Abbey?!

I don't think it's Fell Sal has to worry about falling in love with Cherry. It's me.

I took a deep breath. "Yeah, she does. I mean, how can she even talk that fast? I can't catch up, let alone be on the same page with her. You can have her, Fell, for all I care."

Sal still refused to look at any of us. But Fell and Cherry were staring at me with their mouths wide open. I leaned back against the seat, unable to look at them a minute longer.

Didn't they know it was rude to stare?!

I felt my face heating up. Fire burned through my veins, adrenaline surging through my system. Being on this train felt wrong, somehow out of place. Why had my father sent us on this quest anyway? Was he trying to kill off his only son? I couldn't suck in enough air to breathe, much less warn Fell and Cherry to look away before they burned their eyeballs out with all their staring.

I felt eyes boring into me from the other side of the compartment. I looked up and saw brilliant green eyes glancing into mine before they quickly flickered away. I studied the girl for a second. There was nothing abnormal about her; she was just a nosy mortal who liked to stare. Maybe she should have given my friends lessons, she was that good.

Reluctantly I looked up at Fell. "So. Read any good manga lately?"

"Bleach."

"Isn't that the one where the guy becomes a soul reaper?" I tried, failing utterly at squeezing Fell for a conversation. His grey eyes were cool, studying the people who were sitting around us. I knew he was analyzing everything, looking for even the slightest hint of a threat to come along. Fell's just the type of guy who's only comfortable when he's trading blows with someone or flirting with a cute girl.

"Yep," Fell said, finally giving in. "I read in Shonen Jump that when he finally manages to rescue Rukia, he's right back to the world of the living trying to live a normal life."

"Are you kidding?" I groaned. "I hadn't gotten to that part yet."

"How could you NOT have gotten to that part yet, Jay? You read as fast as a two-year-old," Cherry broke in, her fingers gripping the edge of the seat with white fingers. "Everybody knows that Ichigo was just beginning to settle down when Ulquiorra decides to kidnap Orihime."

"Stop it with the spoilers already!" I coughed, annoyed. "Bet you don't know that in +Anima Husky actually turns out to be a prince."

"No way!" Cherry couldn't help but let her eyes widen even more. Now she looked sort of like an insect with bulging eyes. "And Nana always wanted to marry a prince!" Then she remembered she was supposed to be annoyed with me. She put her hands on her hips, her electric eyes flashing. "You'll pay for that!"

Luckily, the attendant chose that moment to announce over the loud speaker the current stop, and I was saved from a horrid death by poisonous, man-eating plants.

"Farraway Park, now boarding." Her voice was completely robotic, bordering between emotionless and uncaring. I flicked a quick, smug grin at Cherry before I tumbled off the subway, almost collapsing on top of the girl with the green eyes. She gave me another meaningful glance before stepping delicately away from me, toward a sign that said South Los Angeles. I heard everyone tumbling out after me, so I swiveled around, looking for my friends.

They were completely and utterly gone.

_Well, _I thought to myself, _Things possibly couldn't get any worse._ Oh, but they did. Because I was stupid enough to get _back _on the subway. I never was the brightest light bulb in the light bulb collector's collection.

I looked around the compartment frantically, earning a few pushes from behind by people who were boarding. Somehow I got shoved into a seat, and before I could get up, the subway's doors closed, locking me in.

I settled back with an impatient sigh. This could be a very long ride.

* * * * * * * * * *

Cherry looked both ways before turning to glance at Fell, her eyes glittering with worry.

"Please tell me he didn't get back on the subway."

Fell shrugged. "He didn't get back on the subway." Cherry glared at him, pushing past him roughly, and Fell had no choice but to follow. Sal brought up the rear, his face still just as sullen as it had been when they left Camp Fireblood in the morning, his eyes angry and his mouth still set in a line. Cherry stomped down toward the sign that said South Los Angeles, and Fell could have sworn he caught sight of red hair disappearing around the corner.

Cherry halted, and Fell just avoided crashing into her. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked up at him, her reluctance to talk to him at all battling in her gaze. He met her eyes stonily, his hands in his pockets gently touching the shaft of the spear. Finally she spoke, and he knew the only reason that she would talk at all would be because of Jay.

"We need to find him," Cherry said. "The quest can't go on without him; there's no way we'd manage to get out alive." Fell could hear the sadness in her rebounding in every word.

"We could go to Camp Halfblood," Sal spoke up for the first time. "That's where Jay would go. We could meet him there." The demititan's eyes were resting on Cherry.

Slowly she nodded, seeing the sense in Sal's words. "Yeah. But I feel like we can't just leave him all alone, by himself. What if he runs into something dangerous?"

"He's Jay," both Sal and Fell said together, whipping around and looking at each other, smiles slowly spreading across their faces. "Of course he'll find trouble. But have a little faith; he's gotten more powerful over the years. He'll just freeze time and run away." Fell finished, a warm feeling rising up in him as he watched Cherry's anxiety slowly drain away.

"Yeah. Jay knows what to do. He's smart…for an idiot." Sal added, flashing another smile. Relief swept through Cherry as she realized Sal was coming back to earth.

If only Jay were here. Then this moment would be perfect.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I fell asleep on the subway.

Yeah, I'm an idiot. My only chance to go back and search for my friends was gone, out the window that I'd stupidly opened. I missed the first stop after Farraway, and the second, the third; I slept until we had reached the border between California and Nevada. I stumbled out of the compartment sleepily, almost tripping over my own feet.

"Excuse me," A lady said, tapping me on the shoulder. I turned around.

"Yes?" the words tumbled out of my mouth. I was barely standing up on my two feet, let alone able to talk to someone else while standing. I'm just not that talented.

She fumbled in her pocket for a second. She held out a twenty-dollar bill. "I noticed that you came all alone, and I thought you might need this."

I stared at her in shock. She thought I was an orphan? But some instinct told me to take it. I didn't have any money now that I had been separated from Sal and the others. So I took the money, shoving it down into my pocket after thanking her and watching her walk off. I momentarily stood there, utterly confused. Nobody had ever shown that much concern to me before.

Finally I shook my head. I needed to get moving. I'd never find my friends if I went back, because they'd probably already moved on. I'd just have to keep moving toward Camp Halfblood in the hope that I'd run into them sooner or later.

I slowly slunk down the platform, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The subways were still crammed with people, so it wasn't that hard to blend in and look like you knew where you were going. Voices steadily rose and fell around me, and I listened intently, desperate to find out where exactly I was and whether there was a McDonald's nearby (hey, I can't help it. Being anxious makes me hungry enough to eat a hippo).

A quick movement to my right drew my eyes, and I saw two kids dodging through the crowd, their eyes narrowed in concentration. Their clothes looked normal enough, sweatshirts and baggy jeans, but the fact that one of them was gripping a sword tightly in one hand bothered me. I shoved through the crowd after them, jostling and stepping on other people's feet (Sorry sir, oops, I mean Ma'am), the wave of mortals enough to push me back. But finally I made it to the edges of the throng, just in time to see a foot disappear around the corner of a dark hallway. Having no doubts, I stepped fearlessly after them.

They were leaning against the walls, grinning boldly at me.

"What do you think, Sara? Can he See?" A dark haired guy asked his companion, his teeth glittering in the hall. "Or should we just kill him?"

The girl across from him had long blonde hair with delicate blue eyes that were now looking me over. Her hand was resting on the hilt of the sword I had seen, and she was definitely not afraid to use it. "What's your name?"

I stood gaping at them, my eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.

"Oh, we got ourselves a mute," the guy said, sneering. He shifted ever so slightly against the wall, so that he was now positioned to block my escape. "Let's kill him now, Sara, so we can go home."

"Cut it out, Ian," Sara suddenly snapped. She turned back to me. "We're here to help you. Who are you?"

"Jay Sylver," I replied calmly enough, her gentle manner finally letting me settle in. "Who are _you_?"

"Sara Meyers. And my cousin, Ian." She gestured briefly to the dark haired guy who was staring wide-eyed at her. "We're demon hunters."

"You're demigods?" I asked, astonishment melding with shock.

"You know about us?" Ian asked in disbelief, his voice ringing around the emptiness. I heard a click, and I threw myself to the side just in time to avoid the blow. I looked down the sword that was inches from my head, the silver glowing at me. Sara brushed past me to stand between Ian and me, her eyes blazing.

"Ian!"

"He's probably in league with them! We don't know who to trust!" That wasn't far from the honest truth. Ian must have been referring to the hellhounds that always followed demititans to war.

"He was being followed. They must have been after him." Sara growled in return. She was holding onto the silver sword, her knuckles white from gripping it so hard. Ian met her eyes fiercely for a moment, then awkwardly lowered his head in submission.

Sara whipped around, as if she couldn't bear the sight. "Follow me, Jay."

I hurried after her, Ian bringing up the rear behind me, breathing lightly as if this was always the routine. The dark hallway gradually brightened as we moved farther along, and I recognized the light instantly as having magical properties (the fact that it was hovering in the air may have given it away). I knew just the spell that would create such flames, and I murmured it quietly to myself, watching my hand as a small flicker of scarlet flame floated above my palm, careful to not let either Ian or Sara see it.

Finally the hallway ended, and I found myself in the largest room ever. That wasn't the only thing that caught my attention, though.

Hundreds of faces were staring curiously at me, their eyes wide with surprise. The only light was coming from a fire in the center of the room, causing all of the kids' eyes to glint back at me, and there was a strange blankness in their gazes. I instinctively reached for my bow; just the touch of the smooth silver made me relax.

"Welcome to paradise," Ian muttered beside me.

And not for the first time, I wondered what the heck I was doing.

* * * * * * * * * *

Rachel perched high up in the tree, her hands sticky with sap. The climb had taken most of the morning, as she had been hard pressed to find good branches higher and higher up. Camp Halfblood spread out beneath her, and the Oracle sat regally, looking down upon her small but beautiful kingdom. She felt free. The wind rushed through her hair, and she closed her eyes tightly, in final anticipation of a vision striking.

_The room was dark. The boy crouched down on the ground, staring into the embers of a dying fire, his eyes wide. A cold voice was speaking to him, and Rachel had to strain to hear the words._

"_-must be done-"_

"_-but father-" the boy was murmuring._

_The voice raised in anger. "You must do as you are told!"_

_The boy bowed his head in submission. "Very well, I will do as you have asked. Please guide me back to my friends."_

_The voice turned coldly pleased, and _Rachel winced_. "They hold you back. No, you will proceed to the camp as you were ordered to do. Alone."_

_The kid trembled. _

"_As you wish," he whispered weakly._

Rachel felt growing dread in her as she opened her eyes to the forest rustling quietly around her. Who was the kid? And why did the voice talking to him sound so familiar?

"Rachel!"

She looked down at the base of the tree. There was nobody there.

"Up here," Rachel could hear the grin in the girl's voice. The Oracle looked across the clearing to the other trees waving silently in the breeze. A dark haired girl was floating silently above the trees, her blue eyes wide with amusement. A hawk had settled neatly on her arm; it studied Rachel with beady golden eyes.

"Hello, Rachel," Ryley grinned. "Nice day for flying, eh?"

"You would know," Rachel said under her breath. "You being a goddess and all."

"Yeah, the weather wasn't really a surprise," Ryley said thoughtfully, to Rachel's surprise. She didn't think Ryley could have heard her. The goddess closed her eyes, and suddenly snow was falling in little flurries. She opened one sparkling blue eye. "Whoops!"

Rachel burst into laughter, the giggles chasing away the doubt her vision had brought. Nothing could ever burst Ryley's bubble.

Ryley crossed her fingers, closing the eye. "Rain…rain…rain…"

The snow changed to a downpour that soaked Rachel to the skin. She glared at Ryley.

The goddess just shrugged. "Not my fault." The hawk turned to look at her, and Ryley leaned in close to it, her eyes widening. She smoothed its feathers with one hand. "There there, Nico, don't get too angry, it was just a little prank…"

The hawk clacked its beak furiously.

"Fine," Ryley muttered to it. She threw the hawk up in the air, and as it spread its wings, with a faint pop, Nico Di'Angelo was floating where it had been a second earlier. He glared at Ryley.

The goddess turned to Rachel with a shrug. "I still don't have my powers under control yet. I kissed Nico this morning and the next second he was a hawk. Needless to say, it didn't go down well with either of us."

"You did it on purpose," Nico accused darkly as he floated. His black eyes were full of amusement, however. Rachel eyed him; over the summer he had grown a couple more inches, which made him taller than even Percy, much to the latter's disappointment. She had noticed a change in the demigod; ever since he had met Ryley his presence had become slightly more bearable, and he had shown an almost gentle side that no one had ever known existed.

"I love you too," Ryley replied, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, Rach, any visions recently?"

Rachel stared at her. _How_ did she know these things?

"Um, yeah," Rachel began, wondering how the heck she was going to explain this one. "It went like this…"

* * * * * * * * * *

If you didn't understand ANY of the last part, you need to read Falling Star, my other Olympian Fanfic. Ryley's the main character in that one, so you'll understand it more if you read it… R&R please I'm begging you!


	6. Chapter 5

Let me explain. I know it's been _months _since I updated. Let me explain to you my woe, and then you can cry and weep with me.

I started writing this chapter ages ago. I was typing it up on my old computer (may God smite that pile of crap from the Earth) and I tried to transfer it to my new computer. But for some horrid reason, the old computer had the nerve to _erase _my amazing, absolutely stunningly written chapter from the face of the Earth.

God and I will dance on its ashes together.

I couldn't get back to typing up a whole new chapter, as crappy as I felt. So instead of that chapter, you'll be getting this one. It's good, but not _that _good. So be nice.

Dedications: CHOCOLATE CHERRY PIE (I know you're IT WAS ALL A PUZZLE now, but I can't get CCP out of my head), and Swiftpaw of WindClan- even though you made me feel sad with the fact that my idea isn't original. I've never read another story like this one before…

Anyways, enjoy the taste of the crappy fruit of all my labors.

* * * * * * * * * *

**(evil comes in the most perfectly wrapped little packages)**

Life with the demigods was…interesting.

Every day, in and out, all we ever did was defend the station from the numerous 'demon attacks' that Sara and Ian were convinced were real. But I never saw a single one. And trust me; I know what demons look like.

I happen to be one. Just like every other demititan out there.

The days crawled by more slowly than I ever remembered them going, much to my disappointment. I was going nuts. I had to escape soon, or loose my sanity.

Another round against Cherry's man-eating plants would be preferable to this.

Cherry. Just another of my regrets. Where were they now? Surely they would have kept heading to New York even after they lost me. This quest was the most important thing in our lives; the blurry line between life and death for all of us. I longed to escape, to spread my wings and fly, but the chains manacling me were stronger than ever, and Ian had somewhere along the way decided he would be my personal jailor.

But on the third day, something finally happened; I heard something.

Two demigods leaned against the wall in the main room, their heads close together. They were talking in hushed whispers that anybody but me could not have heard. I edged closer carefully, tipping my head.

"-about _her_? Did Sara really get rid of her, or is she just feeding us lies again?" The heavy blonde one was saying.

"Melina's definitely gone now," The dark haired one replied casually, his eyes sweeping the space around them, searching for eavesdroppers. Unconsciously I had shrunk back in my hidden corner (aka my personal jail cell), but he returned quickly to the conversation.

"There was something weird about that girl," Blondie muttered under his breath. "Always having those dreams, claiming she was seeing the future."

"What a load of crap," the other snorted. "She didn't deserve to live. I'm sure Sara made sure it was quick; she's never been one for cold blooded murder." His voice made it clear that that was yet another thing he hero-worshiped the leader for. "Melina was weak, spineless. And she'd challenged Ian and Sara too many times."

"Do you really think she's dead?"

Blondie lowered his voice. My heart pounded as I leaned in. "I doubt it."

They were interrupted by another demigod, one who I certainly didn't want to see right now. Ian. I backed away slowly.

"Melina. Is. Dead." Ian hissed under his breath. "So forget about her and just get back to doing what you're supposed to be doing. Keep your eyes on that hall and if I even hear a mention of her again, you'll have me and Sara to answer to." He looked grim. "And I can promise you, that won't be pretty."

The two lackeys jumped to attention sloppily. I grinned in spite of myself. If they were really on guard duty tonight, that would make escape a lot easier. If only Sal were with me; he was the son of Morpheus, and he could put just about anybody to sleep with one snap of his fingers.

But who exactly was this Melina person? She sounded a lot like the Oracle, but the Titans had said she was at Camp Halfblood with all the other demigods. But no one had known about all these demigods massing here either; I had accidentally stumbled onto them as well. But now I had better make use of where I was. I needed to find Melina, whoever she was, and get out of there immediately, preferably before they knew who I was and attempted to kill me. Because _that_ really wasn't on my agenda.

I slunk along the wall, blending into the shadows like Jared had taught me. Of course, he was the lucky one to be the offspring of Leto, the Titan of being unseen. The spell slid easily off my lips as I breathed, and I felt invisibility seeping down over me, a tingling feeling spreading down to my toes. I looked down, not dismayed at all to not be able to see my own feet.

Excellent.

Grinning again at the fact that things actually seemed to be going well, I slipped past the heavy blonde into the hallway. He snorted a little as I trod on his toes (the stupid kid had fallen asleep again- that made the second night in a row) and I added a spell at the end, my grin widening as he began to drool uncontrollably, creating a puddle at his feet that I hadn't noticed. I stepped forward and slipped, falling forward with a muffled groan. Blondie awoke with a start, looked around, then sagged back against the wall, his eyes closing immediately.

I rolled my eyes.

And the demigods thought _they_ were better. What a load of crap. I'd never even heard of them until my twelfth year at Camp Fireblood, which was so remote that it was out in the middle of nowhere, so we didn't honestly get much news. What little we got was from Fell; the naiads would tell him anything he wanted to know, and they were terrible flirts. The water spirits could transport at will where they wanted in the world, as long as it was in a body of water (oceans were preferable, but puddles and ponds suited them just fine).

I shifted ever so slightly in the hallway, feeling a sudden breeze blow through my hair. I shivered at the sudden drop in temperature, goose bumps erupting along the back of my neck, which I rubbed uncomfortably. I knew the arrival of one of _them_.

"You're far from camp, demititan," a soft voice whispered in my ear.

I whipped around. It took me a couple of seconds to find what I was looking for; a small girl so invisible, so transparent that she blended in with the wall, like a chameleon. Her long black hair had been tied up in a simple braid, which curled over her shoulder. It was darker than her midnight sweatshirt, and, coupled with her shady, baggy cargo jeans and black Vans, made her look years younger than she actually was. By centuries, in fact. A black hat was perched on the crown of her head, completing the entire shadowy look and causing the shivers to turn violent. My hand went to my bow.

"No need for that," she said quietly again, and suddenly my bow appeared in her outstretched hand. I gritted my teeth, barely holding myself back. But I knew that if I attacked now, she could make my life a living hell.

The girl patiently studied me, and I knew that she had to be aware of my raging temper. I was trembling so hard, my teeth gnashing so hard they felt numb, my fingernails biting into the flesh of my palms.

"The brave hero," the girl continued as though she'd never stopped. She examined me, the reason for the scrutiny in her eyes hard to read. "Where are your friends, boy?"

"My father decided I didn't need them," I almost snapped. I bit back the rest of my retort, in case I had already done irreparable damage. That was when I noticed the glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

"Do you know who I am, boy?" she asked, her night black eyes solemn. She seemed to have ignored my scathing comment. For now.

I recalled all the campers, lining up on the day of the quest. All of them had been there, but only one had always melted into the back of the crowd, visible only at the edge of vision, in the corner of my eye. He had faded back, but if you knew what to look for, you could always find him. He had taught the very trick to me, in hopes that I would finally be able to tread softly, never alerting my enemies to my presence. And because of him, because of Jared, I had slipped past my enemies straight into an enemy of an entirely different kind.

His mother.

"Yes, I know who you are," I murmured, raising my head to stare the Titan in the eye. She shimmered on the edges of my vision, fading in and out, as if toying with my sight. The girl raised her eyebrows and, invisible or not, I felt her intense stare and met it, my grey eyes burning steadily.

"Leto."

* * * * * * * * * *

The sword gleamed in the dawn, its sleek silver blade coated and dulled by dust, as it hung from its peg next to the door. Prometheus' initials were blazing still after centuries of rain, centuries of avalanche, of earthquakes, all those years it had been buried deep in the center of the Earth, where it lay waiting. Waiting for the one who would free it from its bonds, and take up the mantle of warrior, defender, protector. Amazingly, astoundingly, as the sword Aryryn twitched, the dust exploding and causing the blade to gleam once more, I wasn't the only one troubled.

Aryryn had long ago been held by the ancient hands of the Titan blacksmith Prometheus, his pride and joy, the product of slaving away one single century at the forge. It was a poor way to repay him as I had; providing the eagles which tore his liver out each day, at the bidding of Zeus. The King God had had him restrained against a sheer cliff face, chained, broken, and bleeding ichor, the blood of the gods and the blood that pumped through my veins. We were one and the same in a sense, he had created the weapon, and I was the one who wielded it, however reluctant I was now.

The sword had known that there were only two people on this once grassy green earth who it had deemed worthy of its ownership, and little had I known that I would be the one. Aryryn had not chosen Kronos; it had chosen me, out of all people. That had been a mistake.

The light filtered through the window, the particles of dust falling like snow after Aryryn had shook itself. I watched as all of it rained down, pondering the question in my mind. Was I a mistake? One the sword had never intended to make?

And then there was Kronos. The prophecy that said one of us needed to die rebounded in my mind, still there after centuries of me trying to wither it away.

A knock at the door pulled me away from my thoughts. I pushed myself off the bed with a slight sigh, scattering the sunshine that now rolled through the window, blossoming the room into color. Aryryn started sparkling with delight, and I soon found out why. The sword always reflected my moods, like a mood necklace that weighed over ten pounds. Sometimes it was distracting in battle; other times it was useful, revealing my feelings when I had not known them myself. It was rather complicated.

I unlocked the deadbolt, suddenly excited to see who was there.

Aryryn suddenly began pulsing a dreamy light.

It was Nico.

I grinned. He was as hot as always, his midnight hair slightly mussed up from the breeze that rustled through the trees, probably a result of my now wavering attention. I couldn't concentrate long enough to hold it in check.

"Morning," he yawned.

"Morning to you too," I said as I stood back, holding the door open as he slipped past me into the cabin. I scanned the cabin with anxiety; luckily for me I had decided to clean the day before, so my cabin was neat and spotless. Not that it would have mattered to Nico; his cabin was equivalent to that of a pigsty.

I sank back down onto my bed, both relieved and slightly annoyed that he had decided to show up in the middle of my thinking time. But I was mostly relieved.

"How's camp?" he asked me, settling into a chair across the room.

"Fine." I didn't need to add how dragging it was to get up early in the morning and teach the newbies sword fighting. With one glance he would be able to tell what I was feeling. I picked at a loose string of the bedspread, needing to do something with my hands to get rid of the instinctual feeling that urged me to do _something_.

Nico got up and crossed the room in a second, his eyes never leaving mine. He halted tantalizingly, inches away from my face. I was suddenly reminded of the rule that Chiron had; no two campers were supposed to be in a cabin unsupervised. Then I had to remind myself _again_ that I was a goddess, and the rule technically didn't apply.

"Something wrong?" His dark eyes were full of concern.

I wouldn't meet his eyes. "It's just a feeling I have. I'm never comfortable in one place."

"Is it…Max again?" Nico's voice held an edge, barely discernable but still there.

"I still have the nightmares," I murmured. "And it's my fault."

A couple months ago, a terrible battle had been fought for Camp Halfblood, a battle that had taken many of my close friends away. My Pegasus, Ace, had sacrificed himself for me, throwing himself in between me and the Titan Kronos as he had been about to strike me down. Another of my old friends, Max, had come back from the dead for the fight against Kronos, brought back by my friend Lyss. He had also died, leaving a tear in my heart that was slowly filling up, with the help of Nico and his sister. Lyss had been one of Hades' daughters; long ago she had betrayed me, attempting to kill me as a favor to her father. I had thought her dead for centuries; on the night of the battle she had arrived, bringing all my old allies from my days in Athens. Lyss had brought back my ghost from the dead, and I was alive once again. Unfortunately, it meant that she had to take my place, and so she had, without reluctance and without a single complaint.

I missed them all so much.

The nightmares were mostly of Nico and occasionally Max, being struck down and killed by Kronos. I knew in my heart that they weren't real, but it did nothing to dilute the fear and pain that rushed through me every time I visited them.

You see, after my friends had all been destroyed by the battle and scoured from the earth, I had been sent a vision from Kronos, the Lord of Time himself. It had shown him slowly swaying my friends to his side, one by one, slowly picking them off. Though they fought bravely, with everything they had, all of them had fallen far enough to stand firmly at the Titan's side and fight for him. Rachel, speaking for the Oracle, had assured me that Kronos could in no way have brought them back, yet I still had my fears and the agony that bit at my heart every single time I thought of Max, Hanna, and Ben, lost forever to me.

Nico's gaze was locked on mine, and I soon found I couldn't look away. His hands rose slowly, resting on either side of my face gently, not breaking eye contact once.

The fear drained from me as my heartbeat slowed, all my negative emotions soaring out the window. I could breath freely again, and I leaned forward, resting my forehead against his. It was ice cold, a feeling of being doused in cold water. I almost gasped.

"Feeling better?" Nico breathed. The corner of his mouth twitched in a held back smile.

"Tons," I whispered back. He was inches away, and we slowly closed the gap…

Suddenly he leaned back, getting to his feet. The door to my cabin swung open, and Rachel tumbled in. Her gaze switched from me and Nico in an instant, and a ghost of a grin hung about her face. The Oracle brushed past the son of Hades, settling onto the bed beside me with a sigh. She was in the worst state yet, huge shadowy bags hanging under her eyes, which had lost much of their liveliness, replaced by an immense weariness. She rested her face in her hands, exhausted.

"You know the rule about two campers being alone without supervision," Rachel murmured halfheartedly at an attempt of humor. I gave a forced laugh.

"You forget I'm not a camper," I explained patiently, while shooting a frustrated glance over her head at Nico, who was mirroring my look. The longing was plain on his face. "Does the word goddess mean anything to you? You know what Zeus does-"

Rachel suddenly became as red as her hair. "I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled. I grinned at my minor victory. Rachel-0, Ryley-1.

Nico spoke up from across the room. "Why are you here?"

"I can't sleep with all the visions I've been getting lately. They're all about that one kid, and the strange voice that sounds so familiar. I just can't remember where I've heard it before." Rachel sank deeper into the bed, fighting to stay awake. "Chiron said you could help me."

"I'm not a miracle worker," I muttered. Louder, I added, "but if you want, I can put you in a dreamless sleep for a little bit. You should feel better after that."

Rachel nodded, already slipping. I touched my finger to her forehead and instantly she fell to the bed, lightly breathing, her head resting against my pillow. I sighed. "That was supposed to be my pillow. I wanted to sleep in this morning…"

Nico crossed the room quickly, holding his hand out to me. "Guess we'll just have to go somewhere else." A dark sparkle glittered in his eyes.

I allowed myself to be pulled out into the forest after him, a smile threatening to break out over my face. When Nico had sucked away my fear, all my other emotions aside from happiness had been drained away as well. I felt only joy as we raced through the forest, toward the cabins. It was early and probably no one would be awake yet.

The cabins were silent, as we had expected. I tugged on Nico's hand, and he paused beside me as I stared up at the Big House on the hill, overlooking the entire camp. Beside it was the hill where Thalia's tree grew, and it glowed lightly in the distance with a golden light, drawing me forward.

"Can we go to the border?" I begged. "I haven't seen a sunrise in a long time."

To my surprise he nodded, casting a glance behind us as though expecting someone. But soon we were running up the hill, everything forgotten as we just reveled in life, laughing and grinning back and forth. Finally we reached the tree, and I leaned against it, slightly panting. Peleus the guardian lay a couple feet away, his tail curled around the trunk and brushing against my legs. The Golden Fleece hung above my head, the golden light spilling onto everything. Nico no longer looked so dark; his face was angelic, his eyes turning chocolaty. He kissed me, and we both turned to look at the sunset.

The golden globe slowly rose above the horizon, staining the sky red as blood. The sight struck a chord inside me. All the fear that Nico had taken away surged back.

Nico didn't notice.

I followed his gaze to a speck in the sky. As it got closer, the fear began to seep away, replaced by awe as I realized that it was a snow white Pegasus, its wings like clouds floating in the wind. Someone was sitting on its back, raising their hands in the rush as the Pegasus suddenly fell into a dive, its wings pulled in tight along the ridge of its spine. I gripped Nico's hand tightly as I waited for the camp's border to come into effect, bringing the Pegasus' descent to a sudden and horrible end.

Suddenly, I realized that they weren't going to stop. They were going to plow straight through the invisible force field, apparently unknowingly, not aware of the camp's defenses. A sickening feeling gripped my throat.

Thunder exploded around as us as I saw the Pegasus smash headlong into Camp Halfblood's border. I cried out as pain radiated around us, the earth leaping at the sky under our feet, tossing us clear over to Thalia's tree, which miraculously was still upright. My back pressed tight to the tree, I allowed the tremors of the ground settle around us, shivers still violently shaking me to my very roots.

_That was a close one, Achlys._

_ Yes. Thank you, Diamond. I owe you my life yet again._

_ Laugh._

The dust slowly cleared. Standing several yards away, unscathed and magnificent, stood the pure white Pegasus, her coat radiating a light of its own. But that paled in comparison to the girl sliding down off its back.

Her hair was gold, reaching to the small of her back, curling in little ringlets. Her eyes were the bluest I had ever seen, completely outshining even my own. She had smooth, creamy skin that instantly caused shoots of jealousy and envy to sprout in my stomach. She had eyes only for Nico; she was examining every inch of him with an elegant eye, looking very _interested. _Then she flicked her eyes toward me, meeting my flaming gaze.

Exhaustion poured over me, and I held out a hand to lean heavily against Peleus, who had the same dreamy eyed look as Nico. My boyfriend dropped my hand like it was burning as the girl turned her ocean eyes on him.

"Hello there." The girl said. I almost dropped my jaw. Her accent was so warm, so familiar, sounding sweetly of home. It enveloped me in a gentle cloud, instantly putting me to ease and sounding like a lullaby to my ears.

"Hi," Nico replied, his black eyes sparkling. I almost elbowed him when a thought suddenly entered my mind. _Achlys…_

The exhaustion turned to a sickening weight in my stomach. I raised my head and saw the girl, Achlys, screwing her face up in concentration, her blue eyes on my face. All my suspicion raced back.

The urge to be sick swept me off my feet.

"I don't feel so well," I muttered as I brushed past Nico and dashed down the hill, holding my hand on my stomach. "Bye, Nico."

He wasn't paying attention, as immersed as he was in studying Ms. Gorgeous, but I was too exhausted and ill to notice, my legs feeling more and more shaky with every step I took.

"Wait!" The girl called after me. I paused.

"What?"

"You're the goddess, aren't you? I've heard a lot about this camp and you lately. I was curious." Her blue eyes glowed with some unknown emotion that for some reason raised goose bumps on my arms.

"Yeah, I am. Who're you, anyway?"

"Achlys Finnegan. But sometimes people call me Lyssa." I thought I heard a malicious tone ring through her voice. But it was completely dead to my ears.

"Rylin Becker." I halted again, introducing myself. _Isn't Achlys Greek?_

Another wave of sickness and I was barely standing on my feet.

"It was nice to meet you," Achlys called softly, her voice laced with deadly intention. "Extremely nice."

On that last jolly note, I spun on my heel, and in a couple of seconds was racing through the forest, cracking twigs and crunching leaves underfoot. The wooden walls of Pan's cabin peeked through the thick trunks of the old tree spirits, and I pushed myself harder, determined to reach my bed before I crashed and burned.

I sunk down gratefully on top of the covers (after moving Rachel the Oracle from my extremely comfortable pillow to the couch) my breathing going shallow as I let my eyes slip shut, cutting off my last thought.

_Achlys in Greek means…_

* * * * * * * * * *

"What gave it away?"

Leto flashed in and out of my vision, grinning wryly, her dark eyes glowing. I focused hard on her, not bothering to answer what I knew to be a rhetorical question. Out of all the Titans, Leto was the only one to have a sense of humor at all. She had given birth to the twin gods Artemis and Apollo, and Apollo had to get his witty jokes from somewhere.

"Can I have my bow back now?" I asked, carefully keeping the anger out of my voice. She locked her eyes on mine, staring deep into them as if she expected them to spill out all the earth's secrets to her.

"Not until I'm sure you won't try to shoot me on sight, demititan." Leto grinned at me.

"I don't have time for this! This is why Jared doesn't like talking to you, and I probably wouldn't either, if you were my mother-"

"I can make that happen," Leto interrupted, narrowing her eyes.

I whipped around, stalking away from the Titan of being unseen. "I have to find my friends!"

"That wasn't exactly your goal in coming here, young demititan, I heard you." She said quietly. "_I have to find Melina."_

"What do you know about her?!" I demanded, glaring at her.

"I know where she lives, and I can take you to her. Your demigod friends will be swarming this place soon, searching for you. You need me." The Titan sounded matter of fact, and I stared at her incredibly.

"What's the catch?"

"There is none."

I snorted.

"Okay, there is a catch. You have to protect Melina, keep her safe. She's…rather close to one of my friends, and I don't want her to get hurt." Leto was completely solemn now. "What say you, young one?"

I met her steady gaze, thinking it over. I thought of Cherry, her determination; Fell, who despite first impressions had a good heart; and Sal, the most persistent of us all. We didn't know where we were going, what would happen to us during this quest, or what the outcome would be. Could I really drag an innocent into this with us? But staring at Leto made me realize something. If I failed, there would be terrible consequences to pay, maybe even with one of our lives.

I squeezed my eyes shut, nodding reluctantly. "All right."

Leto spoke, her voice full of approval. "Very well. Follow me, demititan."

And so I did, the weight settling deeper in my stomach with every step I took.

* * * * * * * * * *

The cold stone wall glared without pity back at him as he bit his lip, the griffin freeing another mournful screech at the moon, its crooked beak dropping to the granite with a loud crack. It paced in front of the satyr with beady golden eyes glowing intelligently, the heavy beak dragging in the dust. Its wings, once raised and proud, were curled with feathers ripped and bent, the air whistling tunelessly through them.

_It may be free, but it's still tied as tight as ropes._

The griffin looked straight at Grover, nodding its agreement with his thoughts, as if it understood. It probably did; griffins were renowned fighters, scouts, intelligence, for Kronos, at the forefront of his army. They were also the most cold-blooded killers, with no pity and no mercy for their victims or each other. He wasn't quite sure why this one had deserted, or why it hadn't eaten him yet.

But Grover could care less; he was living longer than he originally would have.

He knew it was hungry. Day after day it came into the cave empty clawed, with scratches and torn claws where its prey had escaped. Grover, despite himself, felt pity for this creature of Pan, that it had to suffer so in life, that it had given an entire lifetime of service in exchange for its own little slice of paradise, which it clearly hadn't gotten.

Suddenly overcome with terror, he poured all his fear and determination into his empathy link with Percy, hoping desperately against hope that the darned demigod would hear him. First Thalia, then Nico, now Percy…were all his discoveries doomed to be failures? It broke his heart…

_About to be eaten! Would be nice of you to come about now!_

Grover's thoughts turned to the life he had left far behind him a week ago, when the griffin had snatched him up, soaring in the sky with a loud and triumphant caw. It had been calling Grover stupid, and he let loose at it such a raged twittering that it almost dropped him in surprise. His search for Pan, Juniper, Percy…all it was merging together in one huge whirlpool, mixing up his memories and dreams into some sort of twisted reality.

He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep.

Someone was shaking him roughly. "Get up, Grover."

His eyes sprung open and he had to peer through narrowed eyes against the sudden light that caused a fierce pain to erupt behind his gaze. He looked up into the fierce angry eyes of his rescuer, sorely disappointed at the sight. _Clarisse…_

Someone shoved Clarisse to the side. This figure remained as it had in his memories, right down to the determined green eyes and fishy, unique smell that belonged to Percy, and Percy alone. "Leave him alone, Clarisse."

A warm rush of relief spread through Grover. "Percy?"

"Yeah, man. Where've you been?"

A mischievous sparkle flickered to life in Grover's eyes. "Out and about."

"I bet you have. Getting kidnapped by a griffin is rare, and yet you manage to do it almost instantly. I'm rather impressed."

"Cut the chit chat, fish boy. We need to get moving," Clarisse broke in.

Percy held out his hand, pulling Grover up with his free hand; the other was holding Riptide in a death grip. The griffin lay silent in one corner, black blood soaking the dust at its feet. Clarisse smiled grimly at it as she passed, weaving a thin, ragged feather in her hair.

Grover walked unsteadily over to the mouth of the cave, his legs trembling violently underneath him. And that was before he looked out.

Cawing, shrieking, screeching, monsters gathered in droves outside the cave, batting their spindly wings, gnashing long fangs, pounding the ground with their powerful legs. The moon glowed over the treetops, shedding a watery light into the clearing.

_Oh Percy, don't make me go out there, you don't understand, they'll kill me…_

"GROVER!"

Someone yelled.

Grover jerked out of the dream, his eyes flying open. He looked up into the face of a real, live, breathing Percy, whose grin brightened the cave considerably, light radiating out and warming the satyr's cold, lonely heart, melting the ice…

"Oh Percy," Grover gasped. "I didn't think you'd ever get here."

"I wouldn't ever leave you hanging, man, not like this. I guess we can add rescuer to my list of professions as well as valiant knight and warrior." The demigod's eyes went misty as he considered the appeal.

"Oh, stop being so arrogant, Percy," Annabeth Chase said, coming up from behind Percy and elbowing him in the side. Her grey eyes were just as beautiful as he remembered, her blonde hair shining in Percy's light. Grover's eyes slid past Annabeth to glimpse Clarisse beating the crap out of the griffin with the butt of her spear, the cries of pain sounding like such a lovely lullaby to Grover, the dream drifting soothingly through his mind.

Percy exchanged a glance with Annabeth, suddenly serious.

"We've got something to tell you."

"Hm?"

"Pan is dead, Grover. I'm sorry." Percy sounded sincerely apologetic, his voice full of concern as he studied the satyr's expression. The words struck a chord inside Grover, breaking out a reserve of strength he never knew he had.

"But remember the sign of the wild, Percy?" Grover cried. "Remember the boar that he summoned to save us?"

Percy sighed quietly. "The boar wasn't him, the scent on the wind wasn't him, none of it was him, man. That's what we're trying to tell you." His green eyes were truthful; he really thought he was telling Grover the truth, but Grover refused to believe he had spent half his life in vain.

"Who was it, then?" he challenged.

"His daughter," Clarisse said bluntly, having finally knocked the griffin about so much that it had fallen unconscious.

Grover blacked out.

* * * * * * * * * *

I stretched luxuriously, allowing myself to relax and just stare up at the peeling and cracking aqua paint, without a thought, just me and the cabin, just me and Aryryn. Glancing over at the couch, I saw that Rachel had disappeared, the blanket thrown aside hurriedly, like she had somewhere to go, something pulling her. Closing my eyes, I picked out her shining aura; strangely, it was flicking in and out of focus, just on the edge of my vision. Hm. Something about it was just plain weird.

I laid my head back on the pillow. It didn't concern me.

But what did was the two auras still sparkling lively on Halfblood Hill.

I bolted upright.

_Nico._

If Achlys so much as touched him, I'd _kill _her.

By the most torturous means possible.

* * * * * * * * * *

Location Report (Incomplete):

_Rylin Becker: knocked out on her bed in Pan's cabin, Camp Halfblood, New York._

_Nico Di' Angelo: In the company of one Achlys Finnegan, Halfblood Hill, New York._

_Grover, Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse: In a cave somewhere in Colorado._

_Jay Sylver: Terrihio Subway, Salt Lake City, Utah._

_Rachel Elizabeth Dare: In the middle of her twelfth vision of the day, on the couch in the Big House, Camp Halfblood, New York._

_Chiron: Next to Rachel._

_Cherry, Fell, and Sal: Somewhere in Idaho. Don't ask me how they got there._

_Bianca Di'Angelo: At her private school in Rhode Island, wishing she was anyplace but _here.

_Alyssa Janaya:__ Cavorting about in the Fields of Elysium, trading dirty jokes with the Furies. _

* * * * * * * * * *

**Max Perry, Ben Perry, and Hanna Finn:**

**Location unknown.**

* * * * * * * * * *

Please tell me what you think. I _need _comments back.


	7. Chapter 6

Finally got this chapter done. Yes, I know. Rejoice, rejoice, dance around, whatever you crazy people out there do.

Yay.

By far, this chapter has to be one of my favorites. I had a lot of fun writing it, and you'll have a lot of fun reading it :) Hopefully.

Just warning you; this one gets pretty sad at the end. I got depressed writing it.

Dedication: It was all a PUZZLE (Whom I still know and love as CHOCOLATE CHERRY PIE), Mending the Sky (SWIFTPAW!), and tlover13. Love ya, Kelse. Happy New Year's and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Disclaimer: NOOOOOOOO!!! Though, in this chapter, there are MANY characters that are property of Oceanmist9: Ryley, Gabe, Leto, Helios, Asteria, Max, Lyss, Ben, Hanna, Jay, Melina, Achlys, Celine, Diana, Samuel, and last but certainly NEVER least, Razielle.

For those of you that skipped the entire list; Congratulations. You passed my test.

Enjoy and love it.

* * * * * * * * * *

**(alone)**

His eyes never left her.

They were grey like the sky before the storm. Full to the brim of some emotion, like an overflowing cup, sloshing over the sides and spilling down onto the desk where he was sitting with that air of indifference that she couldn't help but feel was attractive in some way. Ruffled light blonde hair that shimmered, she thought appreciatively, in the metallic light that she so hated.

He was still watching. Better for him to think she hadn't noticed.

Bianca Di'Angelo turned her gaze down the aisle, focusing in on Mr. Clare, whose low robotic voice was tediously continuing, much to her dismay. She still felt the boy's eyes on her back, melting and burning, still completely emotionless. His aura was murky, completely opaque to her curious stare and clever mind. _Daughter of Hades, _Bianca cursed. _Yeah right!_

Boarding school was no place for a demigod. Especially _her_. Nico and Ryley were out there, and she was stuck in here, with the band nerds and the geeks and the snotty cheerleaders with their jock boyfriends, and all the while she was just wondering when a monster would come along and she'd get the fight she'd craved so badly, ever since last week when Argus had dropped her off in this prison…

"_It'll only be for a little while," Argus said gruffly, the eye on his forehead staring directly at her. "Take care of yourself, Bianca."_

Nico had said practically the same thing to her earlier.

_His hands were shoved in his pockets, his dark eyes staring dead at the ground. Ryley was perched in the tree above him, conveniently out of earshot, just this once, her blue eyes staring up at the sky as she sang to the birds, who responded so enthusiastically it was easy to see they loved her._

"_Bianca," Nico demanded suddenly, his head shooting up. "You can't…You're not…you're leaving me? Again?"_

_Bianca caught a glimpse of the old Nico lingering in the depths of his black eyes, hiding behind the façade he had thrown up to shut her out. "No, Nico. This isn't like that at all." she soothed, walking up to him. He was a head taller than her, and suddenly Bianca felt ashamed. I left him behind when he really needed me. How could I be so out of it that I wouldn't notice that my _own_ baby brother was growing up? _

_The birds fell silent._

_Ryley had her face turned away, shadowed against the tree as she leaned into it, and Bianca had the strangest feeling that goddesses _could _cry, and that Ryley was doing it that very moment._

_She wrapped her arms around Nico's neck, the highest she could reach. Her brother was tense, so stiff as he stared down at her. Just when he began to pull away, Ryley's clear voice rang out over the treetops, the birds trilling her beautiful song back at her. Nico's black eyes softened._

"_I won't ever leave you alone, Nico. I promise." Bianca felt herself trembling. All the same, her voice shook too as she added, "Never alone." She pressed her face against him, breathing in a scent that was all Nico._

_They stood like that for a couple minutes, too completely overwhelmed for words. A car horn echoed in the distance._

"_I have to go," Bianca murmured, breaking away from Nico and pushing her flying hair out of her face. "Bye, Ryley."_

"_Byeeee!" The birds trilled, and Bianca cracked a smile. She searched the trees for the goddess, but she was nowhere in sight, the wind rustling emptily through the forest. The warm sun beamed through cracks in the leaves overhead, alternating the forest floor into a spider web of shadows and light._

"_Don't do anything stupid, Bianca," Nico whispered._

"_When have I ever done anything stupid? If I remember right, it was you that-"_

_The car suddenly put on a volley of honks. Bianca broke off._

"_You better go, Bianca," Ryley suddenly whispered in her ear. "Argus doesn't sound happy."_

"_Take care of Nico, Ryley," the daughter of Hades pleaded._

_Sapphire flames blazed through Ryley's gaze. Bianca almost flinched. "You bet I will." _

_Bianca turned and ran, her light hair streaming out behind her. The trees flashed by but she didn't notice, as far as she was in the land of dreams already, fading away to nothing but a shadow. Why couldn't she remember…?_

"Thinking too hard, Bianca?" he asked. "What about?"

Bianca gazed at him, her next breath already jammed in her throat. His grey eyes were laughing at her, grinning as much as his mouth was, and Bianca loved the effect it had on his face. She was soothed just thinking about it.

The dorm had fallen quiet around them, the younger kids already gone to bed, and everything was peaceful. She didn't want to think about the younger brother she had left behind, didn't want to think about Ryley and Argus and Camp Halfblood. All that was past, and she _never _wanted to go back. A couple of weeks ago she may have thrown a fit about being here, but that was before she had met him.

"Your face is all scrunched up," he whispered, leaning in, his hand against her cheek. "What's on your mind?"

Bianca sighed as she pressed her forehead against his.

"Nothing, Gabe," she murmured right before she kissed him.

_Nothing at all._

* * * * * * * * * *

The hallway darkened the farther along we went, colder and colder with the absence of the lamplight. I could barely keep an eye on Leto; the darker it got, the more she faded away into her element. Finally, I lost her altogether.

"Focus, demititan," she whispered in my ear. "You can see if only you let yourself."

I strained my eyes, picking out patches of inky darkness from the shadows. I couldn't see an inch in front of me, let alone a Titan with the power of invisibility.

"No I can't. I can't do it."

"Close your eyes." I did.

I relaxed, letting my eyebrows unfurrow, letting my muscles unwind. _Truly open your eyes. You must have faith._

My eyes flew open.

Leto was perched on a rusty cabinet a couple feet to my left, her hat pulled down over her face. Her whole face was hidden by its shadow, but I saw her mouth move in a grin. She saluted me as she slithered down the cool metal surface, landing soundlessly against the carpet.

"Come. We still have a ways to go."

I reluctantly started walking again, holding my hand up. The magical flame burst to life in my palm, shooting brilliant purple sparks to light up the narrow hallway. I followed the sound of the Titaness' footfalls, glancing uneasily around at the walls. There was a terrible feeling to them, like something horrible had happened here.

Something that had to do with the demigods who lived here.

Sara had said there were demons. Where _were _they? There was no evidence of them that I had seen, no scent, no piles of dust. I couldn't easily ask the demigods, but there was someone I _could _ask, who had been alive when it happened…

"Leto, what happened here? It feels terrible, like someone important died in this place, in this maze." I could barely keep my voice from shivering, the fire burning comfortably against my hand. I grabbed my bow, instantly feeling safer.

"Quite the opposite, actually," Leto murmured. "Someone was born."

We went on silently for a few minutes, quietly stepping among the rubbish that littered the hall as we went deeper and deeper into the heart of the labyrinth where Melina now lived. I stayed quiet, knowing that Leto would continue on her own time.

"You know that when the gods moved here from Greece, they brought all their monuments and famed places with them, such as the prison of Typhon, the Labyrinth, and the Lotus Hotel and Casino, where time itself pauses. They may have brought the noble aspects of their history with them, but they brought the wicked places with them as well."

"And this place is…?" I left the question open, like a jagged wound in the darkness.

"The place where your father destroyed Oranos, his father. And it was as if all of the Titans were reborn, for their father had swallowed all of Kronos' siblings, and they were released with his death."

"Including you?"

"No." Leto said shortly. "My parents, Coios and Pheobe; they were swallowed by Oranos. I did not have that pleasure."

I bit back a grin. "So what does this have to do with the kids living here now?"

"The demigods who live here are unaware of this ancient history." Leto explained quietly. "They gather here because it is a place of power; they are drawn to it like moths to a flame. Since it is a wicked place, they are haunted by nightmares, forced to endure all that they fear."

"They were afraid of demons that weren't there," I whispered to myself. I raised my voice. "Is there any way they can be freed from the nightmare?"

"I'm afraid not," Leto said sternly. "You were lucky. Since you are one of us, the nightmares did not latch on to you as they did to the demigods. Melina was fortunate as well."

"One more question," I said. "So it's like a disease?"

"One could describe it as such," Leto nodded. Then her face grew still as she read my thoughts. "But it will not work the way you want, demititan. Camp Halfblood is magically protected against such attacks. You will have to find another way to secure the Oracle." She turned around to look at me. "We're here."

I looked past her. Standing just behind her was a door, perfectly normal looking, nothing special. It looked exactly like all the others, chipped and worn; the doorknob was rusted, glowing green in the magic light, the wood heavily scarred as if something had raked at it with huge talons and claws.

"This is far from an ordinary door, demititan. It can only be opened from the inside, and only if the owner willingly does so. It cannot be forced open or broken down, nor opened from the inside by an intruder." Leto sounded proud.

"Whoa," I said. "That's one powerful door."

"I sure hope so," Leto muttered. "I'm the one who made it." Straightening up, she closed her eyes, waves of power radiating from her over me and the door. I instinctively tensed.

The door swung open.

"Aunt Leto!" Someone cried as a blur flew past me, hugging the Titaness. "I thought you'd forgotten about me!"

My mouth dropped open at the word aunt. Then dropped even farther when I got my first glimpse of the girl Leto called Melina.

She had raven black hair, just like her aunt's; long and curly, tied up in a braid that hung down the middle of her back. She had a slight tan, which made her eyes stand out brightly. They were a soft emerald green, with a certain gentleness and spirit that I couldn't help but admire. She was wearing a really baggy pair of jeans that mirrored Leto's but were blue instead of black, and a green sweatshirt that matched her eyes perfectly. It had a logo of a fire serpent twisting around a sword on the front.

It was the Camp Fireblood logo.

Melina met my eyes.

"Who's this?" She asked quietly, taking in my dirty clothes, ruffled hair, and bow and arrows in a single glance.

Leto looked around carefully, then rested her gaze on me, shooting a look.

_Don't you dare._

"We should go inside," the Titaness said, unwinding Melina's arms from around her shoulders. "Quickly."

Melina led the way, still sneaking glances at me past her aunt, who was gently but forcefully pushing her through the door. I killed off the magical fire, closing my hand into a fist. The hallway fell to darkness.

A shuffling noise came from behind me.

_Jaaaaaaaaaayyyyy…_

Stringing an arrow to my bow as I whirled, I aimed it at the source of the noise. There was nothing there.

_Jaaaaaaaaayyyyy…_

I shifted again, on my toes.

Nothing.

"Jay!" Leto snapped. She grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me backward. "Get in here!"

Before she had pulled me fully through the door, something launched itself out of the darkness at my face. Its slavering fangs slammed shut just inches from my nose as Leto yanked me through the door and kicked the doglike creature in the muzzle. It let out a piercing yelp as it fell backward on its rump.

Leto slammed the door. I stared hard at the rowan wood, suddenly very grateful for the protective spell the Titaness had placed on it.

"I told you to come in quickly, didn't I?" Leto said savagely as she turned her back on me, settling deep into a couch on the other side of the room.

"Leto, what was that?" I asked quickly.

She ignored me. "Melina," she called.

"Leto!" I insisted.

She swung her head around, glaring at me. Then her gaze softened.

"A mortal soul," she murmured.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Aunt Leto," Melina said, her hands on her hips. She had come through another door that I hadn't noticed earlier, most likely because a huge beast was trying to eat me alive.

The room was very sparse; there was the couch Leto was sitting on, the armchair I was leaning against, and that was about it. A small table was pushed against the back wall next to the couch, a radio sitting atop it. The walls were a plain old boring white, the floor made of long planks of wood. I grabbed the arm of the chair, hauling myself up and falling heavily into the soft cloth that swathed it. I curled up, trying to cover up the fact that I was shivering.

"Who's he?" Melina asked again, waving her hand in my general direction.

"He's-" Leto began before I interrupted.

"Jay Sylver," I tried to grin, but it kinda flopped off my face. "Demititan at your service."

She smiled back, a nice bright smile that warmed me up considerably. I finally managed to grin back, then laid my head back against the chair, exhausted.

"This is Melina," Leto said, as if I was stupid and hadn't put two and two together. "She's my sister's daughter."

"Asteria," I murmured as I closed my eyes. I popped one open, looking Melina over.

"No way!" I exploded when it finally sunk in. "Your mom is the Titaness of prophecy!"

Leto laughed. It was the first time I had ever heard her laugh, and it made her seem so less threatening. Her face went blank as soon as the thought crossed my mind.

"It doesn't MAKE me less threatening," she growled.

I gulped. Melina giggled.

"My aunt likes to joke, Jay," Melina said, talking directly to me for the first time. I liked the way her eyes smiled when her mouth did-Cherry rarely smiled, because she was usually so serious. It was nice, in a refreshing sort of way.

"I see where Apollo gets it," I shot back.

"He was always such the comedian when he was younger," Leto broke in, lost in thought. "It annoyed the heck out of Artemis-she would always hunt him down whenever he played a prank on her. She would shoot him with an arrow-a real one- and he would pretend he was dead. They were so adorable."

"Look at them now," I said bitterly. "They have it easy."

"Not for long," Leto said happily. "Kronos will knock them off their perch sooner or later." She curled the end of her braid around her finger.

"What if they're right?" said a trembling voice. Melina. "What if they're the good guys and we're the bad?"

"This isn't good cop, bad cop, Mel," Leto replied, looking uninterested. "The Titans were here first, and the gods are just going to have to accept that we aren't going away."

"But they protect people," Melina insisted. "And all we do is…" she broke off, looking frightened.

"You can say it," I dared, suddenly angry.

"All we do is not care," Melina's eyes were wide. "People die, and it's in our power to stop it. Why don't we bother to try?"

"I'll tell you why," Leto said, staring at her niece. "Human lives are so short, so simple and irrelevant. What have they done for the world, for us? The answer: nothing. We watch, we judge, and we become curious, walk among them for one day to see what they're like, and we come back disgusted. They are not worth saving, Melina."

Melina turned away quickly.

But not before I saw the tear fall.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Achlys!"

I stormed across the room in a flash, snatching a brilliantly flashing Aryryn off its hook while wrenching the door open at the same time. The door slammed into the wall behind it rather mournfully, and I glared at the huge crack that now split the wood in half.

"That's what you get for not making it indestructible!" I yelled at the sky, waving Aryryn threateningly. "Thanks for nothing, Dad!" I started toward the center of camp, muttering to myself angrily under my breath, swearing all the swear words I knew. _Stupid Pan, stupid me, stupid Achlys…_

"Oh man," someone said behind me, his voice coming in quietly but still full of a strange laughter that only belonged to the sun god, "Are you mad at _me_? I hope not, I mean, sure, I was the one who foresaw that prophecy about you and Kronos, you know, but that's no reason to go around snapping doors in half and all, I mean, that's rather totally not you, Ms. Nature. Where is your cheerful disposition that I've heard so much about?"

"Helios, I don't have time for you," I snapped, swinging Aryryn around. It sunk into a tree an inch from the Titan's head, and he widened his eyes at me innocently. "Let me rephrase that- I will never, ever, _ever_ have time for you in the small amount of time that is known as my life, nor will I have time for you after I pass away into the Underworld. There _isn't _enough time in the world."

"That's not very nice," Helios said matter of factly, waggling his finger at me. "Kronos must have lied to me. Asteria, being the witch that she is, probably did too." He mimicked the Titaness' soft voice. "Oh yes, Helios, that particular immortal is _verrrry _interesting, yes, she absolutely has the most sunny personality in the world and she doesn't even relax in her sleep; her face muscles get all stiff and she holds Aryryn tightly the entire time."

"No I don't…hey!" I narrowed my eyes. "Asteria is a stalker?"

Helios' eyebrow went shooting up. "You're just realizing all this now? What gave it away, the vision of her in your morning yogurt or the button on her Facebook profile that says _"I'm not a stalker…by the way, you're out of milk?"_

"I'm going to defriend her for sure," I muttered.

Helios suddenly straightened up. "Gotta go, I think the old hag's calling me now-do you mind?"

I thickened the sarcastic edge in my voice. "Oh Helios, please don't leave me alone in the big scary forest all alone, I might get lost like Hansel and Gretel and then Asteria might find me and eat me…"

He only had time for a very confused "Huh?" before he disappeared into thin air.

It took me only a second to remember what I was doing.

I thundered through the slowly awakening camp, sliding Aryryn into its sheath across my back. I pushed past sleepy campers, and as focused as I was, I didn't notice when somebody shoved out a hand to stop me, burning against my shoulder. His eyes were flaming behind his dark sunglasses, and he looked huge compared to the small, red haired girl standing next to him.

"Hey, Ryley." Apollo said.

"Apollo? What the heck are _you _doing here?" Surprise shocked me out of my anger. My eyes widened as I flashed a glance at Rachel, who just tipped her head at me, her eyes clouded.

"Do I have to have a reason for coming to visit my kids?" He sounded offended, but I couldn't have cared less. "May I ask what _you're _doing here? Last time I checked, Titans weren't allowed in Camp Halfblood."

"Titan_ess_," I snapped, then stopped. "What are you doing with Rachel?" Reaching back with my right hand, I traced a pattern with my fingers on Aryryn's sheath absently.

"He's clearing my visions!" Rachel burst out. "You know how they were all crowding me? Apollo's been helping me regulate them, keeping them away from me so I can get some sleep." She blinked gratefully at Apollo, who looked modestly down at the ground. I almost exploded laughing.

Then he looked back up at me, and something sank in my stomach. Apollo's handsome, normally cheery face was completely somber, all traces of laughter wiped clear.

"Rachel saw a new enemy," he murmured to me, his eyes flashing around us. There was nobody within earshot; we were tucked in a small copse in the woods, a couple yards away from the nearest cabin, Poseidon's. "This time Rachel's the one in danger."

"Why?"

"We don't know. My best guess," Apollo broke off, staring down at Rachel beside him, who sat down hard in the dirt, her face pale, "is that they want to make us blind. She's the only one who can show us what will happen, what troubles we'll have to face. Without the Oracle, we'd be a wreck." He whipped the sunglasses off his face, finally meeting my eyes. "You know as well as I do what happens when demigods are thrown into darkness…"

"Yeah, I do," I said briskly, instantly choked with memories I didn't want.

Camp Halfblood a hundred years ago, the way it once had been, proud and powerful and determined, kept safe by a handful of demigods who were just as strengthened, just as filled with ancient blood as I was. Celine, Zeus' daughter of fifteen, the best strategist I had ever known; Diana, daughter of Poseidon, thirteen years of age, as dangerous as they come with her chosen weapon, a trident, just like her father; Samuel, a son of Hades, twelve years old, able to shake the earth with just a single thought, crumbling his enemies to dust.

And then there was Razielle.

Looking at the flames dancing in his eyes, I knew Apollo remembered just as well as I did, keeping the pain locked down tight, deep inside himself so that it would never again see the light. I knew if he could, he would forget.

But I wouldn't.

_Razielle._

_ Daughter of Apollo._

_ Age: 14._

_ Why? She asked. How?_

_ I answered her questions as best I could, barely keeping the smile from my face. My happiness grew as a seed, and I finally felt like I was recovering from the loss of Lyss, two centuries ago. Every word from her mouth was a drop of water, nurturing my heart, healing it._

_ Watching her run in the meadow, tracking animal prints in the dirt. The way she would listen, like an animal herself with her head tipped to the side and her ears pointed. I could almost imagine a long, furred tail curled around her knees. She would kneel down in the mud, in the grass, in the river, and point out to me each and every trace of animals there was to be had in the forest, grinning as I turned away from a pile of animal scat she'd pointed out. _

_ The forest loved her._

_ Razielle, its little flower._

_ In summer that year, Artemis arrived late, her Hunters trailing dejectedly after her. It had been a hard season; they had lost over half their number to monster attacks and to Kronos, who seemed to be tracking them. In her desperation, Artemis begged the remaining demigod girls at Camp Halfblood to join her ranks. Immortal life at that point was very tempting-Kronos was growing in power, and it looked as if nobody would survive._

_ I'm going to take her offer, Razielle said. I was shocked._

_ Artemis will take good care of me. She's my aunt, after all, Razielle insisted. _

_ I am frightened, Ryley, Razielle admitted._

_ I had been too proud to admit I was scared, too. _

"If I had admitted I was afraid, would you have stayed, Razielle?" I whispered.

_She left that night. I stayed up late, watching the stars and longing for the next day to be born, that I might see the beauty and hold on to the hope that she would live to return to us, to me, and never leave again._

It's safe to say that I no longer believe in hope.

_When the news came, I did not cry._

_ She's gone, Ryley, Celine cried. She was a softie after all._

_ Samuel was playing his poker face. _

_The monsters got her, he said._

_Diana punched a tree. _

_We'll get them then, for RAZIELLE! She shouted._

"For Razielle." I agreed sadly.

* * * * * * * * * *

_A few days later, Diana went missing. _

_She was later discovered in a ring of slain monsters alone, having died from battle wounds. We counted the dead enemy. _

_I stopped after reaching fifty._

* * * * * * * * * *

_A couple years later, Samuel fell in battle. It was said that Kronos himself had killed him._

_I blamed myself._

* * * * * * * * * *_  
_

_Celine fell to depression soon after. I turned a blind eye to her cutting._

_If only I had known it would escalate to something so much worse._

_ Through it all, the Oracle had said nothing._

* * * * * * * * * *

"I'm not going to take this enemy lightly, I promise you." I said in a deadly voice. Apollo nodded, his eyes hardened.

"But would your resolve be as strong if you knew who it was?" he whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"The enemy that is chasing down Rachel, trying to damage our sight, and destroy us all, that enemy is someone you care about. And it's too late to save him." Apollo's voice was full of sympathy. "Believe me, I'm as full of pity as I could be. Cause there's no way you can fight him."

"I don't need your pity. Who is it?" I snarled.

"He's as lost to Kronos as they come."

"WHO THE HECK IS IT?" I yelled.

"Your father." Rachel murmured.

"No freaking way," I snapped as the pieces of my heart broke.

As

they

shattered

into

oblivion.

_Max was first. My memories of him looked like they'd been through the blender, ripped and torn in the places that were slowly fading away. I _had _to hold on._

_ Didn't want to forget._

_ Hanna. Oh how I wished that she had been related to me instead of Kronos. We could have grown up together, could have danced through fire and hell together, never alone. We could have had each other._

_ It was too late for that._

_ Too late._

_ Ben's fire was burned into my memory, always smoldering quietly behind my thoughts, keeping pace with me through the bad decisions and the right ones, through rushed and violent actions. _He _was my conscience._

_ But now I was alone, more alone than I'd ever been in my life. Lyss was cavorting about the Underworld. Max, Hanna, and Ben were MIA, lost somewhere in the world between death and life. I had fought a terrible battle with Achlys over Nico, and by the looks of things I was losing the war badly. Bianca was at her boarding school in Rhode Island, probably not missing me one single bit. She could make new friends, couldn't she?_

_ Percy and Annabeth were on a quest somewhere to the west, in Colorado. I didn't even have them to rely on. Chiron and Rachel were too preoccupied with the Oracle's visions to even notice how dangerously close I was to the edge of insanity._

_ And now I would have to face and kill my own father._

You don't need people, _a nasty little voice whispered in my head. _All you need is yourself. And look; does anybody even care? Nico's completely forgotten you. He said he loved you, and then he went chasing after Achlys.

"Yes," I found myself whispering. "But there's other people who care…"

You mean Artemis? She's the one who took Razielle from you. And she wouldn't hesitate to do it again if it meant saving her dear little Hunters. You can forget about _her_.

"But…"

You'll find out soon that I'm right. That you will, _the voice was full of malicious glee, fading back into my mind. _Alone, the daughter of Pan is alone, all alone…

"Ryley?" Rachel asked, trembling. "You'll help protect me, won't you? I'm scared."

_"I'm scared, Ryley," Razielle whispered. _

_ Through it all, the Oracle had said _nothing_._

"No, Rachel," I said, my eyes hardening as I felt the hatred seep from me, from the voice in my head.

"I don't think I will."

* * * * * * * * *

Location Report (Incomplete):

_Chiron: Couch, Big House, Camp Halfblood, New York._

_Rachel Dare: Forest, Camp Halfblood, New York._

_Bianca Di Angelo: Saint Mary's Boarding School, Providence, Rhode Island._

_Alyssa Janaya: On the banks of the river Styx, having a nice conversation with Achilles._

_Jay, Leto, and Melina: Terrihio Subway, Salt Lake City, Utah._

_Rylin, Nico, and Achlys: Halfblood Hill, Camp Halfblood, New York._

_Cherry, Fell, and Sal: Crossing the border between Wyoming and Colorado._

_Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and Clarisse: Fighting some monsters near the border of Colorado and Nebraska._

* * * * * * * * * *

**ERROR! SYSTEM OVERLOAD!**

**Max Perry, ****Hanna Finn, ****Ben Perry: **

**Alive.  
**

**System will now shut down in 5…4…3…2…1…**

* * * * * * * * * *

Rylin finally breaks down.

I would appreciate reviews :)


	8. Chapter 7

Hurrah. I'm back with another chapter! I'm just so excited…Anyway, this one has an interesting Bleach spin on it (Bleach is a wonderful manga :) in which Aryryn decides to come alive. Oxymoron much? But yes, Rylin is losing all sanity completely. And that makes it interesting.

Dedication Time: wisegirlindisguise, booklover404, KissMeUnderABlueMoon, and lastly, Mending the Sky. I'll still call you Swiftpaw. Yes, that's what I shall do.

Disclaimer: Yep! Rick Riordan just decided to sign all of Percy Jackson into my very capable hands!! Just kidding…:(

And even if nobody reads it, I've decided in the next chapter that I'm gonna make a list of all the Titans that I'm putting in the story (new ones, obviously) like Leto and Helios. They're important (*wink*) so if you don't read it, you're most definitely bound to be confused when they come up.

And since both Rylin's and Jay's perspective is 1st POV, I'm gonna be telling you who's who. It's a bit confusing, I know.

Anyway, enjoy.

* * * * * * * * * *

**(the path remains lost)**

Rylin

The paint peeled.

_Everywhere._

I continued to stare up at the ceiling without a trace of interest in my gaze.

How _stupid _I had been. To think that after three hundred plus years that something, anything, in my life had bothered to change. But everything was skipping like a broken record, repeating over and over and over, until there was no way I could bear it. Well, I would forget as soon as I could bring myself to let go my death grip on those _stupid _memories.

But I had a feeling that I would find it just as hard to forget about the new Camp Halfblood than to forget about Razielle.

As soon as I vanquished those memories, I would be gone in a whole new way; the one where I would never, ever leave footprints behind. I would never be found.

_Now now, _the nasty little voice said tauntingly. _Don't forget everything. You must remember how they left you behind, alone to deal with this. Remember your pain, remember your anger. For that alone can help you._

"Be gone." I muttered darkly.

It faded. But it would live to return and haunt me another day.

My back against the wall, I sat up and stared across at Aryryn, who I had laid upon the table carefully before falling into my current depression. Its blade was dulling, rapidly declining into itself. I knew that if I were to try to clean it back up to its regular, beautiful self, it would remain the same. No amount of elbow grease would bring it back.

_Broken._

_ Like my heart._

_ Join us. We can make it all better._

_ Take revenge. _

_ You would enjoy it._

"Just shut up!" I yelled, my head dropping into my hands. "Just shut up. All of you."

"Nobody was talking, Rylin."

I felt no surprise. Just a dull anger that someone would dare intrude on me when I clearly wanted to be left alone. How they had gotten through the forest was a mystery; the whole of nature was on the defensive, protecting their queen from any and all intruders. Rachel had tried to bust into my little prison a couple days earlier.

The trees had very unceremoniously grabbed her with long, fingerlike branches, and deposited her back over the border. As if that wasn't enough, she had dashed back across again, screaming at me to stop being such a coward.

I had watched from the top of the trees, insensitive to her pleas, blocking off my feelings. The forest had responded to my desire. This time my whole wolf pack had shown up, snarling and growling at Rachel with such ferocity that she backed off, eyes wide.

I hadn't seen anyone since.

_They don't care about you._

I raised my eyes to meet his. Then grabbed the object closest to my right hand (a pillow) and launched it. Hard.

It hit the middle of his forehead, falling to the ground with a loud plunk.

"You loser. You look as bad as I do." I whispered.

"Of course," he answered softly.

"It isn't surprising, is it?" I asked. "Is it, Aryryn?"

He sighed. "I got too intertwined with you. I won't ever do this again." He turned his face away, full of a weary pain. "Not even if Kronos takes me by force."

"He can destroy you if he wants," I replied. But then my heart softened as I looked at him, really looked. We had been partners for as far back as my memory went, and this was the first time I had ever seen him totally and utterly beaten. He looked whipped.

_Cause of you. _

"These voices," I began, my eyebrows coming down in a v. "They won't be leaving anytime soon, will they?" I knew the answer.

"No. They came because of how fragile you are right now. I hear them too." Aryryn finally turned back to me, sitting down on the bed across from me.

I wrapped my arms around my knees, shivering violently. It wasn't cold.

"How could you _say _that, Aryryn?" It hurt. Everything did.

"You're fragile, Rylin. You're broken, lost. Perhaps you should think of what's important before you fall into Kronos' trap. Those voices, they're from him. And you're falling for it." Aryryn was angry, his grey eyes flashing. "I thought you were smarter than that! I thought you were so unselfish, something so rare to be found in a goddess. It was why I chose you! But here and now…I can't believe what I'm seeing."

"Nico doesn't care!" I half yelled. "Nobody does! Except-"

"Me."

Aryryn spoke calmly. It was the last thing of him to touch me.

He simply melted away.

I was left staring at an empty cabin. Aryryn had never been there in the first place.

Suddenly I was sobbing into the pillow, not knowing why, not understanding, not stopping until the last, final tear had dripped down onto the floor, where I could no longer see it or feel it, as every emotion ever in me just seeped away…replaced by a black hole of nothingness.

And soon, that was all I was.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Why is she being such a coward?" Rachel asked hoarsely. Tears had stained her pale face, making her look so helpless, so young, and Chiron felt such an overwhelming desire to protect her that he could hardly stand it. Hadn't Rylin already seen what her words could do?

They could change the world.

"I don't know, Rachel," Chiron murmured in desperation.

"I just don't know."

* * * * * * * * * *

They wouldn't die.

Percy swung Riptide for what felt like the 500th time that night, sliding in the slick mud as the monster's dust shifted in the wind. He could feel the sweat running down the sides of his face, along his cheek like tears, and he wiped them away with the back of his right hand as he whirled around to help Annabeth. She was struggling to raise her blade, and Percy honestly couldn't blame her. A couple hours of sheer fighting could do that to a person.

Grover whistled tunelessly on his reed pipes. For whatever reason, they weren't doing much good tonight. Clarisse glared daggers at him as he slipped in the mud, grabbing whatever was nearest, which happened to be her shoulder, and they both went down. Clarisse's opponent, a giant the size of a small house, grabbed her left arm and yanked her up into the air. Her scream split the damp air and made the hairs on the back of Percy's neck stand up.

"Hold on, Clarisse!" Grover shouted, playing a frantic tune on his pipes. The giant froze for a second, then reached down with its other arm and grabbed Grover's leg.

"A little help here," he muttered as he shot past Percy, crumpling against the ground.

Clarisse was no longer screaming. Percy's mind cleared a little.

Riptide shot toward the Annabeth's monster, slicing down its skull. It collapsed into a little pile of dust.

_Now to rescue Clarisse._

Annabeth trudged at his side through the mud, her eyes brilliantly determined. The monster glared down at them. They glared up at it.

"Stop." said a voice behind Percy.

The monster cocked its head, looking even dumber than usual.

Percy whipped around.

A girl was standing there, her emerald eyes on the giant. "Set her down," she ordered.

The monster did as she had asked.

Clarisse whimpered as she fell in the mud, her arm jutting out at an awkward angle. "Clarisse!" Annabeth whispered, her grey eyes wide. She dived down into the mud, spattering Percy, leaning over Clarisse urgently.

The girl with the emerald eyes laughed.

"Take a look at that, Fell." she said, her eyebrows rising. "Doesn't it just warm your cold little heart?"

A guy stepped out of the mist behind her, his arms crossed. Percy felt shivers crawl down his spine at the sight of him, and he instantly knew why.

They were enemies.

"Poseidon," Fell spat.

"Oceanus," Percy snarled right back, reaching for Riptide.

"Percy, don't." Annabeth warned. Her fingers gently skimmed over Clarisse's arm, her eyes narrowing in dislike at the girl with emerald eyes. "They're bad news."

"Not only that," said a voice behind Fell, "but you're outnumbered, too. How clever of you, wise girl."

"Sal likes to battle," Fell said. "I do, too." He looked pointedly at Percy. "Make your daddy proud. Kill me."

Percy tensed, his muscles itching for a battle. Fell's eyes had been grey when he'd first stepped up, but now they were dark blue, a sapphire color that egged Percy on. But Annabeth was right that he should resist. These people were dangerous.

Sal stepped up on the girl's other side, and together they all examined the demigods with polite disinterest. "Cherry, these guys are just trash. Look at that girl lying in the mud. She couldn't even drive off one giant."

"Or that Satyr over there, cringing. You!" Cherry whirled on Grover, her green eyes blazing. "What do you sense from our auras, goat boy?"

Grover trembled, his reed pipes slipping out of sweaty fingers into the mud. "You're demigods…"

"Shut up," Fell suddenly growled, his eyes turning from playful to dangerous in the blink of an eye. "Search harder."

Grover's eyes slipped closed pitifully as he sniffed at the air. "I smell…Gaia?"

_Ryley's here? _Percy exchanged a glance with Annabeth. He couldn't hide his excitement. The goddess would be able to get them out of here.

Cherry read their thoughts in a second. "He's talking about me, idiots. _I'm _Gaia's daughter." Her green eyes flashed proudly as she lifted her head.

_Great. Not another of Ryley's evil, insane siblings._

"And Oceanus," Grover added, wincing a little as he looked at me.

"Guilty," Fell said with a smirk.

Grover was still sniffing the air delicately as he looked over at the last one to be named, Sal. Percy wondered who he could possibly be the son of, as normal as he looked.

Suddenly Grover flinched away from Sal, taking a couple steps back in the mud, his hairy legs trembling. He wouldn't even meet Percy's questioning gaze.

"Morpheus."

"Right again. That's a pretty amazing nose you've got there, goat boy." Cherry commented, her elbow on Fell's shoulder. "So what does that make us?"

Percy looked them over. Cherry was clearly the leader here. She had long, flaming red hair, and coupled with her narrow green eyes, looked like she was the most dangerous of them all with a cunning glint in her eye that Percy could barely see. Fell, who was standing next to her, whose eyes had changed color once again, was clearly the better fighter, a spear handle just visible over his left shoulder. Sal, at Cherry's left, looked the most normal, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. But he would be the strategist, the one who would have planned out every bit of their strategy beforehand. And he'd done a good job; Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, and Grover were clearly at their mercy, forced to do whatever it was the demititans wanted.

"Enemies," Grover bleated.

"We prefer to be called demititans," Sal said quietly, looking through Percy as if he wasn't even there. "but yes, goat boy. That's what we are."

"And you," Cherry directed at Annabeth, her grin steadily growing. Percy gritted his teeth against the urge to throw himself in front of Annabeth, to protect her. There was no doubt the demititans would use it against them.

"Daughter of Athena," Cherry continued. "Annabeth Chase, if I'm not mistaken."

"You're not," Annabeth growled through her teeth.

Cherry's gaze slid past her as if she hadn't spoken and alighted on an unconscious Clarisse, whose arm was now straightened thanks to Annabeth. "Ares. Clarisse La Rue." It was eerie how she seemed to know each and every one of their names, who their god parent was. Then Percy realized exactly how clever the demititans were.

_Know your enemies. Know them better than yourself, and keep them close, to better keep an eye on them._

Fell picked up after Cherry as all three of the demititans turned to stare maliciously at Percy. The son of Oceanus' voice was clear and taunting, his eyes narrowed. "And finally Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon, recently turned sixteen years of age. We've heard a lot about you."

"You guys think you're so amazing, so powerful. That you're all heroes. Well I've got some info for you-you're not on top anymore." Sal said, grinning. "We're replacing you."

"Do you honestly think you're scaring us?" Annabeth broke in angrily, her eyes steely. "We have yet to see any evidence that you have powers of any kind. Maybe _then _we'll admit that we're outclassed, defeated, whatever. But nothing you've said so far has scared us at all."

"Oh really?" Fell said softly.

"We haven't even gotten started, demigods. We'll leave you alone for now, but that's only because we have no reason to upset the gods this early. Maybe we'll have time for you weaklings later." Cherry winked.

And then they disappeared into the mist, leaving Percy feeling like what they said was the truth, and they hadn't really even gotten started. Things were going to get _a lot_ worse.

And if what Cherry had said was true, Percy would be powerless to stop it at all.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Don't go!"

Gabriel was pleading with her, his grey eyes full to the brim of concern, just for her. It filled her with some type of adrenaline, to see him so worried and upset. But he didn't know the other side of her, the side that longed for this fight, the side that wanted so badly to defend something, like this stupid school. So Bianca shrugged off his arm reluctantly.

"I'll be fine, Gabe."

She took off down the hall, the colored lockers flashing by. She reveled in how amazing it all felt, to finally feel those icy waves after five weeks of doing nothing but hanging out with Gabriel, which was also amazing, but still lacked the close brush with death that she desired.

But all that waiting had finally paid off.

Bianca still wouldn't allow herself to think about Camp Halfblood. She had decided that she was never going back, but that didn't mean she couldn't fight a few monsters while she was attempting a normal life on the side.

It took a couple seconds to locate the monster. Apparently it was terrorizing a couple kids in the garden on the north side; all the kids seeing it thought it was some type of genetically altered bear. Bianca couldn't help but laugh out loud to herself. They were so naïve. They were chucking stones at it, ticking it off. One of them was going to get hurt.

The garden was open ended, sort of shaped like a horseshoe. Kind of like…Bianca didn't want to think it….Camp Halfblood. The kids were standing with their backs up against the center of the horseshoe, having foolishly let the "genetically altered bear" get between them and the exit. Bianca exploded down the steps and out the door into the garden, yanking out her sword. It was monster killing/slicing/kicking butt time.

The hellhound whirled on her.

Bianca froze, her mouth dropping open.

"Mrs. O'Leary?!"

The hellhound huffed. A particularly big chunk of rock hit her right flank, and she howled, causing the kids to scatter ("It's gonna eat me!"). Mrs. O'Leary shook her head, shaking off the pain. Bianca picked up some of her thoughts.

_ Trouble. Rylin. Nico. Bad Scent. Warn Dark Girl. Must Find Dark Girl. Stop chucking rocks at me, you idiots!_

"What's wrong, Mrs. O'Leary?" Bianca asked. The hellhound threw her head back, yowling at the sky. Then she pawed at her nose. _Bad Scent. Bad Scent…you mean besides the underage children throwing rocks at me?_

"Yes," Bianca said, losing half her patience in a second.

_Rylin. Has terrible thoughts in the night, feels so alone. Nico. Hangs out with a bad scent. Percy. Attacked and almost destroyed by bad scent by the river. Safe now. Bianca._

Mrs. O'Leary turned her soft, warm eyes on Bianca.

_You stop terrible things from happening! Please!_

"I'm not going back! I hate that life!" Bianca snapped.

_Your brother…Rylin…you owe life to her._

"I know."

_Rylin lost. All alone. The Dark one touches her with thoughts, controlling her in small ways. But soon become bigger. Then no one may stop them._

"Bianca, your friends need you." someone whispered.

Gabriel.

"I don't want any of this," she said, staring up at the sky. "I wanted to give it all up for you."

"Well, I'm telling you to go." Gabe said, grinning. "But you won't be by yourself."

_Good scent. Good scent! _Mrs. O'Leary snuffled at Gabriel. _Oooo! Bacon!_

"Yeah, Mrs. O'Leary is coming with me." Then Bianca knew he was going to say it.

"No, Gabriel!" She hated the way she sounded like she was talking to a dog.

"Come ON, Bianca! You can't cut me out of this."

"Yes I can, and I will. You are staying here. You don't know what you're getting into." Bianca added, "You have no idea."

"You should have told me beforehand, before I fell in love with you. Because there's no way I'm letting you get away from me now." Gabriel looked so determined and grim. Bianca almost wished he wasn't normal, that he was one of them, that she could show him _everything _about her. But that she couldn't do.

What if he was like Rachel? Could he see Mrs. O'Leary?

Mrs. O'Leary gave a happy bark, then she was off racing around the courtyard, chasing down the kids who were still chucking rocks, despite the hellhound's repeated warnings. "Woof!"

"What was that?" Gabriel asked in wonder. "A genetically altered bear?"

"You wish Mrs. O'Leary was a genetically altered bear," Bianca muttered. "She's much worse."

Finally Mrs. O'Leary had had enough. Some kid had jumped from the stairs onto her back as she loped by and now she was trying to buck him off. The kid was waving an imaginary cowboy hat and whooping. Suddenly Mrs. O'Leary faded away.

The kid crashed to the ground ("I'll never ride a genetically altered bear again!").

She reappeared at Bianca's side.

"Are you sure you want to come?" Bianca asked one final time.

"Of course," Gabriel whispered. He gently slipped his fingers through hers.

"Okay, Mrs. O'Leary. Take it away," Bianca said, reaching for her fur.

The school faded from view, sinking into darkness.

_Here we go._

* * * * * * * * * *

Jay

I fell asleep quickly.

I dreamed of a slow, softly rolling hilled landscape that was as barren as the desert. There was nothing to see for miles, but with so much space it was hard to feel alone. Maybe I had been expecting to end up here someday. It was of something to come.

A small speck appeared on the horizon, quickly growing in size. It rapidly approached, and I recognized the long legs, the horns protruding from its forehead, the spined tail of a manticore, tearing down the desert toward me at the speed of light. I grabbed an arrow from my quiver (where had that come from?!) and loaded my bow, quickly falling into position. A couple seconds later it was staring down at me, its lip curling over its teeth. But it didn't attack.

"Hello, Jay."

Someone slithered down the manticore's side, landing gently on the ground. The manticore roared once, then charged off, tossing its head.

I recognized the old hero from all the stories I'd been told. But I didn't recognize the girl that suddenly appeared by his side. "How do you know my name?"

"Easy, that." said the hero called Achilles. "When you've been in the Underworld thousands of years, learning new heroes' names are of the utmost importance."

"I told him," the girl broke in, winking one pitch black eye at me. "I, fortunately, haven't been in the Underworld for long. I knew you would have an important destiny. Just like Rylin."

"Who's Rylin?" I asked.

The girl ignored my question. "I'm Alyssa. It's nice to meet you. So you're Kronos' newest son?"

"He doesn't look like much," Achilles muttered. "So scrawny."

"Hey!" I protested.

Achilles pulled out a huge double edged sword. He held it up next to me. The sword towered over me, taller than I was. Its shadow completely swathed me, even pouring over the top of my head to touch the ground. "You would have never made the cut in the old days. In fact, you probably wouldn't have even made tryouts."

"It doesn't matter what he looks like, Achilles. Jay is very important to the survival of the world. Right, Jay?"

"Uh…sure?"

Alyssa trilled a laugh. "It doesn't matter what you think now, but later. Maybe when you meet Rylin."

"Who's-"

"Be quiet! Don't you already know what names can do?" Alyssa sneaked a look around us, but clearly didn't see anything. "Anyone can hear them! It's like a signal."

Now I wanted to get out of this creepy dream. Why had these two chosen to meet with me? Was I entirely sure that my sleep deprived brain wasn't doing this?

"Think whatever you want about us, about this dream, Jay Sylver, but remember this: the boundary between allies and enemies is very thin, easily blurred." Alyssa whispered in my ear as the desert faded away. "No one can ever be completely trusted. But there are those in this world who are eerily similar to yourself; with the same desires and dreams. Seek them out-whatever side they seem to be on, they are your true allies."

"I could have easily found that on the inside of a fortune cookie," I muttered. "Thanks for nothing."

I distinctly heard Alyssa laugh.

_Return to the world, boy. Serve me._

Oh joy. My dad and I were back on speaking terms again.

_I'm going,_ I thought fiercely, and it seemed to have shut him up.

A thundering roar woke me.

Melina was leaning over me, her eyes wide with fear.

"They're back," she whispered. That's when I heard the loud scratching at the door, the pounding and yelling. They cut through the silence. I glanced over at Leto, surprised to see that she still looked like she was sleeping, managing to tune out the loud racket.

"The demigods?" I asked urgently.

Melina nodded.

"They want to kill you."

* * * * * * * * * *

"He was quite the comedian, huh?"

"Comedy will do nothing for him in a battle. You cannot win a war with _comedy_." Achilles curled his lip just thinking about it. "Though maybe if you were to allow your opponent to think you take everything as a huge joke, you can gain a certain advantage-"

"Okay, okay." Alyssa raised her hands before he could pour on. "I get it. You're _too _into this battle thing. You really don't want to follow the plan, fine. I can find another hero just as easy-this world's full of them."

As they walked back through the portal, Achilles grew clear and transparent, faded away. Alyssa knew she looked the same, if slightly more lively. And twice as beautiful.

Achilles gave her the Look. The Look that had withered giants and soldiers alike, during his sorrowfully short lifetime. Alyssa could still see the remains of his shattered heel as he walked along the ground.

"You know I would give up the world for this opportunity," he said sulkily. "But if your father-"

Alyssa interrupted him again. "Oh, you don't need to worry about my father, Achilles. He will go along with anything I say." Behind her eyes she was begging him not to push this matter further, painfully aware of what would happen. Then she would miss her chance.

Achilles paused.

"Bellerophon. What happened to him?"

Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at the hero, her hands on her hips.

"He was my test run."

If Achilles was surprised, he didn't show it. Bellerophon was the most ancient of the heroes, and her experiment had worked nicely. So far.

"My stepsister needed help to make the right choice, Achilles. So I sent it to her." Alyssa turned around again and began heading for the hills, the Fields of Elysium, where she could finally rest without ever being bothered. Where, if she wanted, she could bring somebody back to life.

"Achilles, I hope you're ready." Alyssa put all her hope into the question, asking with her eyes as well as her heart. "Are you?"

"Yes," Achilles answered, his dark eyes gleaming already with the bloodlust, the urge to do battle. After all, he had been denied the right for thousands of years.

A black cloud spun like a halo around Alyssa's head. She remembered when she had done this for Rylin, all her hopes and dreams, pouring that life back into the ghostly image of her best friend, except this time she was lost in the Underworld, surrounded by millions of years' worth of hatred and defiance, and Rylin wasn't here.

She almost didn't do it.

_"If you do this, your fate will be shackled to theirs. If they fall, you will as well."_

_ "Do you know what it means to fall?"_

She plunged her hand into Achilles, chest, reaching for his heart. She heard his gasp, felt all energy drain from her mind. It was as hard as the first time, watching the joy in his eyes as he took his first breath of spring air, felt the first ruffle of a cool breeze, saw the world again in a million shades of the rainbow. Achilles faded away.

"Why?" Alyssa asked herself, the tears beginning to pour out onto the sand. She collapsed hard into the mud. She had died three times now. She couldn't do it for everybody, for that would mean trusting them, putting her own life in their hands. It had been instinct when she did it for Rylin, but Bellerophon and Achilles as well? She barely knew them. One mess-up and they would all disappear.

But she couldn't help it. If there was a way to help Rylin, she would find it.

She closed her eyes, recalling the Oracle's last words.

_Believe. Love. All of it will find its way back to you someday._

"Can you hear me, Ryley?" Alyssa asked. "Don't lose, Ryley. Fight, like your instinct cries out to you. Fight it all."

"And Max," she whispered, his name burning her lips.

_Protect her._

* * * * * * * * * *

Rylin

I'd always wondered what it was like to be at the center of the world, shining bright as a star, lighting the path for all to follow. To be as powerful as the ancient gods, burning bright, staying bright, to set off a spark and never let go. I'd had to let go of nearly everything, though.

Razielle had slipped through my fingers like sand, despite my attempts to hold on.

Ace had danced out of my reach, despite my many promises.

My father had fallen, despite my anger.

_I had fallen, despite love._

_ "Ryley?"_

_ "Yes?"_

_ "What's it like to die? I don't want to die."_

_ "It's very sneaky. It slips past you, like the sun drops below the horizon. It will brush its fingers against your face, stealing your last breath. Then it will steal your heart."_

_ I gently pushed his damp hair out of his face, as if to demonstrate._

_ I felt affection souring the moment. I wasn't supposed to feel like this._

_ "Kronos will pay." I promised._

_ "Don't hurt him," he pleaded. "You would know better than anyone how important family is."_

_ I agreed, if only to placate him before he was gone._

_ I glanced at Aryryn, bloodied to the tip, gleaming with a wicked light. I almost wanted to blame him for this tragedy, for this nameless boy's death. At the last second, Kronos had used him as a shield, used his own son like this, and now I felt as though I was losing a friend._

_ "Promise me," he whispered with a rattling breath._

_ "Promise me you won't ever let him use somebody like this again."_

_ "I promise." I whispered, not knowing if the water blurring my eyes was rain._

_ Kronos' son went still in my arms, and I dropped him gently to the ground, whispering a prayer as I went. _

_ As I walked away._

_ You can always learn from memories, _Ben murmured, stirring in my mind. _Especially your own._

Again I looked closely at the nameless boy's face, his pale white face, drained of life. I curled my arms around my knees, feeling no tears rise. I had cried myself out.

"I never knew I could feel so strongly for someone I didn't know," I admitted quietly.

_Gaia is the goddess of life. She values each one as much as her own, if not more. She must have passed that on to you. _I could hear the smile in Ben's voice. _She must have known how much you would need it._

"I find it useless, " I muttered. "To feel pain when I don't need to? How in the world will that ever help me?"

_To be able to love is never useless._

"I swear to you, Ben," I said, my voice rising, "That if that ever comes in handy, you'll be the first to know!" I slammed my fist into the wall. "How the heck did it help me when you and Hanna threw yourselves into battle at my side, just to have me worry the entire time you were in danger? How did it help when Max was coughing up blood last summer, just before he died? It hurts like hell, and pain is an easy way for Kronos to take control of me. I can't afford the luxury of _love_,as you put it. I love Nico, but in my moment of terrible hurt he isn't even here."

_Love counts, _Ben insisted.

I ignored him. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eyes, something barreled straight past my window, ramming into the cabin's door. I lifted Aryryn, the dull blade not showing a shred of excitement. Hmph.

"Put that weapon down, Titaness," someone snarled. The door shuddered again.

"Don't break down my door," I snapped back.

The shuddering stopped. Then there was a loud snuffling at my door.

"Little pig, little pig, please let me in." The malicious voice was dripping honey.

"It didn't work for the big bad wolf, and it's not going to work for you." I called, waving Aryryn.

"Kronos wants to see you, Titaness. He is tired of waiting." I snuck over to the window, tiptoeing gently across the wood floor. I felt a tiny jolt of excitement. Then it fluttered away.

"Do all his birds sing the same song?" I yelled as I crashed through the window. I fell onto the back of one of the beasts.

Oh man. There were more than four of them out here, when I had thought there was only one.

It bucked, sending me flying. I recovered in an instant, landing gracefully in the grass ten feet across the clearing. I got a glimpse of what my enemy was, and I shuddered, glaring into one's huge maw as it roared, spraying me with spittle.

Nemean lions. It'd been a while since I saw one of those.

I crouched and sprang, swinging Aryryn downward. The one that I had landed on backed out of the way, his mane stiffening. There wasn't much room for them all to maneuver, and I had cut down two of them before they started to retaliate.

They were dumb enough to come after me one by one. The first one swung a heavy paw at me, swatting me like a flyswatter swats a fly. I tumbled over into the grass, getting a quick glance up at the sky before it was blocked by a huge, gaping mouth with ten inch fangs that were centimeters from my face.

"It's over, girl."

My ancient rule: It's NOT over until it's OVER.

I slammed him across the muzzle, and he let out a terrible yowl, scrabbling backwards with his paws. He didn't move fast enough for my liking.

Aryryn bit through his heavy mane and he fell hard against the ground, never to rise.

The lead lion launched himself at me, but I was long gone, crouching up in a rowan tree, grinning. I slipped Aryryn back into its sheath, and I could have sworn that I had seen a sparkle out of the corner of my eye.

"Ready to die, Titaness?" It snarled up at me.

"Are _you_?" I said softly, deadly. I raised my hand, letting the blood from my cut I had just made with Aryryn rain down onto the forest floor. I watched it fall through the air, watched the lion's eyes grow wider and wider in surprise.

"Rise," I whispered.

The earth under the Nemean lion's feet exploded, jolting him up into the air. He came down with a heavy crash, unmoving, eyes closed. A bit of blood trickled out of his long fanged mouth, dripping out onto the soil. I slipped quietly down the trunk of the tree, silently creeping over to the lion. I glanced once around the clearing at the carnage.

There had been five of them. Two lay under the window I had sprung out of, and I focused hard on their auras. They had been completely put out. One was draped across the roots of the rowan tree, and I assumed that it had joined the battle near the end, to give me the edge. Another was in the center of the clearing, its throat open, pooling blood. I glanced quickly away from it. The leader was stretched out at my feet, unmoving, unseeing. I checked the auras. None had survived.

I went back inside.

_Heya, Ryley!_

The black Pegasus threw out his wings in the middle of the room, pushing me against the wooden wall. I gingerly pushed his feathers aside and complained.

"Blackjack!"

If he could have grinned, he would have done it sheepishly. _Well, things have been kinda lame without the boss around. Like, no parties or anything! And so I was like, hey, Porkpie, why don't we go visit Ryley? She's like a complete loner now, a hermit-_

_ So she's bound to be needin' someone! Good thinkin', Blackie! _Porkpie crowed from outside.

"So how are things over there?" I asked casually, slipping Aryryn over my head and setting it on the table.

_There's this totally hot new girl, _Blackjack said, giving me a wink. _Her name's Diamond, and when I heard that, I was like, for you, sure! _He and Porkpie burst out in whinnies. I managed a strained smile.

_She's beautiful! _Porkpie said reverently. _She's like, pure white, and I'm muddy, so we're totally not even in the same social class. She's got sparkly primaries that drift in the wind when she flies, shining secondaries that glow in the sun._

_ You ain't got a chance, _Blackjack snapped. _But I do._

_ Actually, the only Pegasus she talks to is Sparkles, _Porkpie mused.

_We could get rid of him in a mysterious flying accident, _Blackjack opened his wings again as if to demonstrate, and I shoved them back bad temperedly.

_Sparkles, _I thought, realizing. _Ace's son._

Sadness swirled around my head in a haze. I hadn't even been there when Sparkles needed me, after his father had died. But I definitely couldn't go outside now. I would have to find another way of talking to him.

"Hey, Blackjack," I said as quietly as I could manage. "Could you take a message to Sparkles for me?"

_No problem, Ryley._

I whispered it in his ear. He nodded thoughtfully, stamping his hoof.

_Just got one question, Ryley. Why don't you talk to him yourself?_

"Can't go out to Camp Halfblood now," I muttered. "They probably hate me by now. They had to cancel Capture the Flag because of me." That alone was true. The forest was still chucking out anyone who tried to enter.

Blackjack eyed me. _That ain't a good enough reason._

I sighed. I knew he wasn't gonna let this go.

Leaning against the doorframe, I watched as Blackjack and Porkpie took to the air, launching themselves upward. _See you tomorrow! _Porkpie whinnied.

Tomorrow? They were coming BACK?

Blackjack, as if reading my mind, nodded gravely.

_We're coming back every day until you make up your mind to rejoin the real world. You're real lonely, Ryley. You need someone to take care of you. And we don't care if it takes years. Just means our ghosts will come back to haunt you. _Porkpie snorted with laughter.

_That's the boss's longest speech ever. Don't let it go to waste, Ryley._

"I won't," I promised quietly. "Bet my life."

_If only, _the nasty voice whispered in my head.

"Go away," I snapped weakly.

It didn't.

* * * * * * * * * *

**ERROR! SYSTEM SHUTDOWN!**

* * * * * * * * * *

For all those people out there who have no idea who Ace is, who the heck Max, Alyssa, Ben, and Hanna are, you need to read the first story I wrote about Rylin, Falling Star! I really don't want to have to redefine their relationships to Ryley again, cause that's just annoying.

Oh, and by the way, I have a poll up on my profile. If you don't want me chasing you down, you need to vote on it. ;)

Until next time.


	9. Chapter 8

Time to update! WOOOOOO! Dance, dance.

Okay. That was weird. I just wanted to let y'all know that I'm working hard on the idea of Dancing with Shadows (RylinXNico oneshot) so you can relax. I've also started a Hanna oneshot about how she found out she was a demigod. Rylin's in it a bit. Supposed to be angsty, but it's not. I'm trying.

Disclaimer: No. Don't even bother.

Dedications: PJO Smiley Faces. For making me Smile. To Misthorse, cause I love ya, buddy.

And to you, MuSiCxcDj. I put Althea in this one, just for YOU.

Now enjoy, or else.

* * * * * * * * * *

**(the song of the heart sings to those who listen)**

Jay

_Of course they want to kill me._

The pounding absolutely exploded at the door, seeming even more renewed since the time Melina had woken me up. I shivered. Ian and Sara were out there somewhere, clamoring for my blood, directing the bloodthirsty crowd of demititans. I didn't see any way out of this.

Melina crouched next to me, her fierce green eyes on the door.

"Don't worry, Jay," she murmured. I had to strain to hear her over the angry pounding. "We won't let anything happen to you. Besides, Aunt Leto's door will never be opened unless we allow it."

A shattering thud was heard against the door, followed by a loud "_Ouch!_".

"Don't forget that we can't exactly stay in here forever," I replied grimly, my fingers skimming over my arrows, checking for any damage or defects. "I need to get to Camp Halfblood before my father decides to smote me there." _And before Cherry gets there first. _If she did, I would never hear the end of it.

I snuck a glance at Leto. She was snoring loudly, but I couldn't tell if she was faking; she'd been snoring like that for hours. Melina caught my sidelong glance and grinned. I grinned back. It was just the way she smiled. Something about it was always genuine, and it shone in her eyes as well.

"Who IS your father?"

I turned away, all the warm feelings suddenly being sucked out of me by an invisible vacuum. A cold pit opened there instead, and I was doused in icy water, my breathing becoming ragged as I remembered his dark, timeless eyes, filled to the brim with cruelty and over spilling still.

"You don't want to know," I muttered darkly.

Melina fell silent, sensing my tension.

I raised my head, meeting her gaze, my jaw clenching.

"You have to release that anger," she murmured, freezing me in my tracks. Something in me wanted to ignore her, roaring in my ears. But I forced myself to listen, the small part of me that knew she was right. "If you don't, you'll turn into your father."

_And that would be such a bad thing, wouldn't it, Jay?_

Kronos.

My head snapped around as I instinctively looked toward Leto. Her dark eyes were open, staring at me impassively. She _knew_.

Suddenly a huge spike was driven into my mind, pain exploding around my forehead. I crashed it against the wall, splintering the arrow I was holding.

_What else are you hiding from me, boy?! _My father snarled. My eyes closed as the pain around my mind grew as a cloud, traveling down my arms and legs, burning liquid fire. And in the center of it all was my struggling resistance. I shoved him away, feeling weak. He danced closer, dark eyes flashing as he laughed menacingly. _Is that all?_

Someone touched my forehead.

My father's image in my mind shattered. The pain deadened as my heart throbbed, and my legs stopped tingling.

"Now is not the time, Kronos," Leto snapped. I felt her breath against my face. "He is under my protection for now. We shall see what he is hiding, but at the moment we need him at his strongest."

_For now, Leto._

His presence shrunk away from me, and I groped for the wall, forcing my trembling legs to hold my weight. Melina wordlessly lifted my right arm and put it around her neck, and I leaned heavily against her. My mind was still fuzzy.

Leto was still watching me. I met her gaze with narrowed eyes, knowing that whatever she and Kronos wanted from me wasn't something I would give willingly. But how could I give away something when I didn't know what it was?

Throughout Kronos' assault on my mind, the pounding had never ceased. I knew that it never would; Sara and Ian were the stubborn type. I had learned that the hard way, first when they refused to let me go, and second when they had insisted I be watched twenty four seven.

"What really happened in this place?" I asked Leto again, except this time my voice was quite different then when I had asked her in the hallways of the train station. "What happened to make the demigods this way?"

"This is where Kronos overthrew his father, Oranos," Leto whispered, a strange emotion rippling over her face. For the first time she actually looked vulnerable. "Where his reign ended and ours began. History repeated itself when Zeus overthrew Kronos, but who knew it would be so cruel? For here, on this very spot, is where the gods rebelled, and where we were forced into Tartarus. The place where our time began and where it ended."

I opened my mouth to speak. Melina's gaze scorched me, and I reluctantly swallowed my question, my mind revolving around everything that had happened to my father, perhaps what had made him what he was…

"But, Aunt Leto," Melina began cautiously, "As you so kindly reminded me last night, our time has come again."

"Yes," the Titaness whispered, her face relaxing. Then she straightened up, her dark eyes wiped clean of the strange emotion. "Let's go. The only way out of this is through."

None of us bothered to ask her what she meant. We all knew. But still, Melina shot me a sympathetic glance as she settled behind her aunt, who stepped toward the rattling door. I placed myself in plain sight, praying. Not to my father, but to Cherry, Sal, and Fell.

_The only way is through._

I drew my bow and set the arrow, looking down the shaft with my left eye closed.

Leto released the door. It exploded open.

A boy shoved his way through, a long wicked spear in his right hand. His gaze fell on me, the blood thirst drifting through his eyes. I held firm, my heart pounding. Our eyes met, each waiting for the other to make their move as to be the first with the advantage….

The boy whipped around and struck down the person behind him, his back open to my arrows. I warred with my curiosity, watching, and resisting letting my arrow fly. He was guarding Leto's door fairly well; no one was getting in.

"Don't shoot him, Jay!" Melina exploded.

I reluctantly lowered my bow.

Someone was pushing past the boy into the room, and with a sinking feeling I recognized Ian, his eyes narrow with anger. Behind him was Sara, whirling on the boy who was trying to defend us.

"Hunter, get out of the way!" she snapped.

Hunter responded with a precise stab at her face, which she blocked easily, parrying with a slash at his chest. I lost track of the fight after that, because Ian had made it past Hunter and was advancing slowly on me, his sword held readily at his side. I drew my arrow back up to my bow again, letting the shaft fly.

It raced toward his chest, smoothly cutting through the air and right on target. I yelled the word for lightning, and the arrow crackled with the electricity right as it struck Ian, and he stumbled.

"You really are a demon," Ian spat, shoving Melina aside. He was so engrossed in trying to kill me that he hadn't even recognized her.

"What, and you aren't?" I asked from on top of the coffee table. "Seeing demons doesn't make you any less demonic, you know."

"We've tried to make up for what we are," Ian snapped, taking a swipe at my feet. I leapt over the blade, over his head, and landed on the couch behind him. "But you-I could tell you were different from us the first moment we took you in. You enjoy being a demon."

"Not exactly," I whispered in his ear, my arrow poking into his throat. My bow was drawn, ready to fire at any second. A bead of sweat dripped down his neck as he froze.

"Ian!" Sara cried. Hunter thrust her back, and she tripped over the person behind her. All the demigods halted, their faces open with hatred, but also with anxiety for their leader.

"It's your choice, Melina," I murmured to her, finally realizing what was holding me back. Her face trembled a little as she looked at Ian, and he glared back at her with little ferocity. Sara was looking at Melina too, her face breaking down slowly, bit by bit.

"You guys tried to kill her," I said angrily. "Now it's her chance to do the same." I pressed down a little harder with the arrow, and Ian squirmed.

"Let him go, Jay," Melina whispered, her face pale. "He didn't mean anything by it. He was only doing what he thought was right."

"And that involves killing someone because they're different?!" I yelled at her. "If it was me he had under this arrow, he wouldn't hesitate, and you know that! He deserves whatever he gets!"

"No, Jay," Melina murmured. She stepped forward, her hand resting on my arm. I looked into her eyes, remembering what she had told me before this whole mess had began.

_Let go of the anger, Jay. Let go._

What Leto had said.

_They're not worth saving._

I didn't agree with that. That was the way my father thought, and if there was one thing I never wanted, it was to be like my father. To be selfish and think of no one else, to kill when it was unnecessary. Somewhere in my heart, I knew that if I did kill Ian, I would end up like Kronos had, so completely lost and twisted he could never be saved.

Aware of everyone's eyes on me, I lowered my bow slowly, hopping off the couch and walking to Leto's side. Her eyes were as empty as always, but I thought I detected something stirring, deep inside.

The kid who had decided to help us, Hunter, turned to look at us, his arms crossed.

His hair was longer than mine, blonde, with eyes the color of dark chocolate. He was tall, about a foot taller than Fell was, and he was like five foot ten. Quietly he looked us over, and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Melina shifted beside me, obviously uncomfortable with all the stares that were suddenly being turned our way. I looked toward Leto, suddenly unsure of what to say, what to do.

The Titaness turned her eyes on Sara.

"Will you let us pass? I can guarantee if you do this, you will never see us again." She said to Sara, who replied with a stiff nod as she turned away, Ian following after shooting a venomous glance back at us. The demigods crowded around us, angry and determined. We were flanked on all sides by the horde, hemmed in by our enemy. I was grateful for Sara, though. Her personal rules of chivalry wouldn't let her kill an enemy that was weaker than her, which we were.

Hunter fell into step next to me, after flashing a grin at Melina, who shyly smiled back. He had slid the spear back into a sling across his back, the sharp point pointed at the ground.

"Thanks, man," I said, flashing Leto a look. She was eavesdropping.

"No problem. You probably don't know who I am."

"I do," Melina replied quietly before I could even open my mouth. "You tried to stop Sara and Ian from hurting me. I haven't forgotten."

They exchanged a secretive glance, which was weird because I was in between them, and saw all of it. But I pretended not to notice.

"Hunter Illis," he said to me.

"Jay Sylver," I replied evenly, sheathing my bow.

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air in between us. I didn't have anything that I'd like to say to a demigod.

Then he surprised me. "How's Camp Fireblood?"

I almost stumbled. "What?"

"Camp Fireblood," he said, amused. "How's it going over there?"

Melina jumped right in, a huge grin on her face. "My mother always told me that I'd end up there someday. Come out with it, Jay! What's it like there?"

"Well…"

My mind was bursting with memories. The time Fell and Sal had played a huge trick on Brynne but didn't bother to warn me and Cherry; all four of us had woken up on the roof of our cabins, while the whole camp watched us try to get down with muted levels of success. Cherry stepped right off the roof into the arms of the pine tree outside our door, and was politely and carefully set down on the ground. I just turned time around so I was standing beside Cherry, watching with amusement as Fell and Sal, who were always lazily sleeping in, stuck their heads over the edge of the roof with eyes as big as dinner plates. Fell, trying to jump down from the lowest part of the roof, had slipped on the third layer of shingles; he rolled off the edge of the roof, only just managing to grab onto the drainpipes. He hung there for almost a half hour, until Delilah, finally taking pity on him, floated up to help him. That left only Sal.

He had tried to jump from our roof to Cherry's. Except the gap was HUGE. And that was where Fell had set up our pond. Sal, frozen with fear, hadn't nearly jumped far enough. He plummeted like a stone into the pond, disturbing the naiads, who shook their fists angrily at him. Fell had dived in after him, and with the help of the naiads, managed to drag him back up, white and pale.

"That's for Mr. Fuzzykins." Brynne said, turning and flouncing off.

Mr. Fuzzykins was her stuffed giraffe that she had gotten when she was two years old.

I grinned off into space.

"Jay?" Hunter asked, puzzled. It jolted me out of my thoughts.

"Please, Jay," Melina begged. "It's going to be my home. Someday."

She looked earnestly at me. And that's when I knew I had nothing to worry about.

She would love Camp Fireblood as much as I did.

Hunter was watching me impassively. I ignored him for now as I began to tell of all the pranks, all the heists we had ever pulled, of a camp better than Camp Halfblood. All the while, a warning sounded in my mind, and I could barely focus on Melina, as suspicious as I was of Hunter.

Could we trust him?

Melina seemed to like him. But she was too innocent, too instantly trusting of people. She had latched onto me almost too quickly. She was no seasoned warrior, as I was, with no instincts to speak of. I wanted to protect her. Not because of my promise to Leto, but because it was the right thing to do. Because it was what heroes did.

Finally I could feel a slight breeze on my face, a sign of how close we were to resurfacing the real world. I had almost forgotten what it was like to breathe fresh air.

The hallway ended with a door. A regular, good 'ol steel door, with a glowing red sign that proclaimed 'EXIT'. I sighed in relief.

The demigods split in front of us, leaving a little path to the door. I went first, angry stares burning into my back all the way. Melina followed, then Leto and Hunter. I halted before Sara and Ian, who were blocking the way out, eyes blazing.

"Now get out," Sara said, her voice tight. "And don't ever come back." Ian spit on the ground in front of us, a menacing snarl twisting his face. Anger boiled up in me, but I forced it down, and instead flashed a smug grin at both of them. They shifted out of the way, the disgust on their faces evident even in the darkness.

"So long," Hunter replied likewise, spitting at Ian. "I'm glad I'm ditching this place."

I stepped outside, holding the door open for Melina. The clean fresh air of Salt Lake City, Utah, greeted me on a soft breeze, instantly reminding me why I was here. Why I had come this far.

The door shut with a click, locking instantly behind us. Good riddance.

"This is where I leave you," Leto said softly. Melina let out a small cry as she hugged her aunt, burying her face in the midnight sweatshirt. I heard a muffled "Don't go". The Titaness looked at me over her niece's head, a warning in her eyes.

_Don't forget your promise._

I gave a tiny nod.

"Don't forget, Camp Halfblood is dangerous," Leto said breezily, prying Melina's arms off her. "Stick close to Jay, keep an eye on him. Goddess knows he needs it."

"I will, Aunt Leto," Melina said solemnly. She walked to my side. Hunter followed, and we all turned to look at Leto as she slowly faded away into the sky, her eyes tightly locked on mine.

I turned to the east, and felt a cold chill seeping into my bones.

_To the glory of the Titans._

_ And the ruin of the gods._

* * * * * * * * * *

Rylin

I wasn't so sure about this.

_I'm not, either. But you won't be sure until you try. _Blackjack nudged me with his nose. I peeked out of the forest, suddenly self conscious in my jeans and sneakers, Aryryn beginning to feel heavy on my back. _We're just going to visit Sparkles. You don't have to talk to anyone._

I watched the cabins stonily. The door to Aphrodite's cabin banged shut noisily, and I jumped, pressing back against Blackjack."This was a terrible idea. It's like a minefield!" I sounded wild. "Someone is bound to stop and talk to me! What'll I do then?!"

_Listen to yourself, princess._

I heard the insanity in my voice. Aryryn, suddenly coming awake, pulsed a couple warnings into my back. I wasn't going let Kronos win me over that easily. I closed my eyes, letting my mind go blank. When I opened them again, all my old feelings of confidence surged back.

"Let's do this thing," I muttered, standing unsteadily.

I stepped out of the forest and almost lost it again. Blackjack pressed up against me, and I relaxed again. He rolled his eyes. _Am I gonna have to stay at your side the entire time?_

The cabins of Camp Halfblood stood casually as they always had, and for some reason the idea strengthened me. If they had stood this long when everything around them was crumbling, so could I.

The campers were bustling around, talking rowdily in large groups or hurrying off to the next sword class, and I was easily ignored in the flurry. I concentrated, and discovered that the two flames I had been so afraid of seeing were far away, up near the Big House. I would be going in the opposite way, to the stables. To Sparkles.

_Isn't so bad, eh, princess?_

"It certainly isn't, Blackjack." I whispered. "I wish you had forced me to do this sooner."

I straightened up. The old Rylin Becker of Athens was back, in my head and my heart.

I still had no desire to be noticed, however. So Blackjack and I took the back path to the stables through the forest, the trees flashing by. I watched from his back, his wings tightly pulled in on either side of me, as he cantered, hooves pounding on the soil. The fresh air was doing me tons of good, the breeze running through my hair with the gentlest touch.

The wooden walls of the stables peeked through the foliage. Blackjack slowed.

"Sparkles!" I cried as I leapt off Blackjack's back, running through the open door.

The warm smell of hay and horses came in with my next breath. The stalls lined both sides of the long hallway, as far as I could see. It soon became a game, me peeking through the little windows in the stalls, and Blackjack flinging his head over the door and whinnying. A smile stayed stubbornly on my face.

Blackjack cantered ahead, ears erect and listening hard. He threw his head, neighing. _Hey Sparks, someone's here to see ya!_

A small, black head shoved its way out of the window on one of the stalls farther down. My eyes widened. I dashed along the stalls on the right side, throwing my arms round Sparkles' neck. Blackjack nickered. _Surprise!_

"Sparks!" I grinned.

_Heya, Ryley. _He gently lipped my hair. _How ya been doing?_

"Where did you get that accent from?" I asked accusingly, turning to glare at Blackjack. I had loved Sparkles' Californian accent, and now it seemed he had ditched it for one eerily similar to Blackjack's.

Blackjack's ears fell against his head. _Wasn't me, princess! I swear!_

_Guilty! _Porkpie whinnied, attempting to look properly ashamed. He failed utterly, but I wasn't looking at him. I only had eyes for Sparkles.

"I'm so sorry, Sparkles."

I didn't need to tell him what I meant. He knew.

Tossing his brilliant head, his mane furling in the slight breeze, Sparkles lowered his head slowly until his eyes were level with mine. _S'okay, Ryley._

"No it isn't," I whispered, my fingers tangling in his mane as I buried my face in his warmth. "Ace is gone. Forever."

We stood there, completely lost in each others' embrace, in the remembrance of a great friend and father, locked tightly away in our own world. For the first time Blackjack didn't have a joke to crack. He just stood and watched, and he understood.

I was so grateful, just to finally have someone on my side.

Of course, the spell was broken incredibly easily by the arrival of a certain someone. Couldn't she see that I was having a Hallmark moment?

_Oh. It's you._

My eyes flew open as I slowly turned away from Sparkles.

Diamond's wings fluttered lazily as she shook them out, glowing dimly in the dusty light. Both Blackjack and Porkpie swallowed noisily, and I made a mental note to kick them later. Her pure white coat was just like snow, dazzling and blinding. I narrowed my eyes.

_Rylin Becker. _She bared her teeth in distaste at me. _Sparkles, what's _she _doing here?_

_ She's visiting, _Sparkles whinnied.

_In OUR stall? What have I told you about dragging in riff raff? _Diamond snorted.

My mouth was dropping. _Our stall?_

Apparently more had happened in the past week than I'd thought.

I turned back to Sparks, my heart sinking into the deep pit of despair. "Sparkles?"

He lowered his head against my hand. _We're kind of together now._

The first thing that happened was the return of the voice. It had left me alone, probably because it had been suppressed by the return of the real Rylin Becker. But now the voice was magnified by several times over, booming over the pounding of my heart.

_That makes everyone._

"All your old friends have left you," I murmured. Then my eyes widened, and I slapped my hand over my mouth. "All that is left to you are your dreams, Titaness. And soon, I shall take those as well." I was talking around my hand. These weren't MY words.

All three of the pegasi were staring at me.

_She's finally snapped! _Diamond broke out in a cruel laughter, her wings shaking with mirth.

Blackjack stomped his hoof. He was laughing, too, his tail whipping around.

I turned desperately to Sparkles. He alone stared at me with solemn eyes as dark as the night sky, eyes that slashed me to the heart. They reminded me of Nico, who I had permanently tried to shove out of my mind.

The only problem with that was that, in three hundred years, I had not fallen in love with anybody. Nico had been my first, spurring on many of my other firsts, my first kiss, the first time I had actually felt like I could bear to stay in one place, that I belonged. But all of it was a lie.

He had deceived me. They all had.

My eyes were begging Sparkles.

_Please… Escape with me._

I needed to get away. Escape, with my wings tied down to anything and nothing.

Sparkles' head bobbed up and down in a tiny nod.

_When the time comes, I am here. _He said in my mind.

With that, I turned and fled, my heart ripping itself to ribbons.

* * * * * * * * * *

Diamond watched her queen flee the stable, her heart breaking. She wanted to canter after the queen, let her bury that tear stained face deep into the pegasus' mane. Let her know that she wasn't alone.

_And she never had been._

* * * * * * * * * *_  
_

Something was calling him.

Some old, protective instinct was pulling at him, tugging at his heart. He turned his head to the forest, listening hard. The call did not come again.

Nico turned back to Achlys with blank eyes as she stared at him, unconcerned.

"Good boy, Nico." she cooed softly. "Resist it."

He sat back down.

It felt like something inside his heart had died.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hunter froze.

A strange voice was talking soothingly in his ear, whispering quietly.

_Hurry. The Lord of Time has already begun his plan._

Some part of him that he didn't know he had roared angrily in the light of this news, and he felt a sudden urge to go east. Hm. That must be how geese felt.

_Focus. _The voice said impatiently. _If she dies, we all will._

"Hey, Jay," he called to the demititan, who was trying to figure out how to set up a tent. Jay looked up, his dark blue eyes flashing. Despite himself, Hunter shivered.

"I've changed my mind."

Jay grumbled some not so nice things under his breath. Melina elbowed him.

"We need to get to Camp Halfblood. Now."

* * *

Mrs. O'Leary's ears perked.

Bianca turned in the direction the hellhound was looking. Mrs. O'Leary was suddenly howling at the moon, the cry ripping through the night and clawing at Bianca's heart.

Her face was soon buried in Gabe's chest, crying all the tears she had left unshed.

"Shhh, shhh," he murmured, stroking her hair.

What was happening to Ryley was suddenly flashing behind her closed eyes.

_ All around her, the forest was coming down. _

_ Stumbling, she managed to reach the cabin, curling upon the floor to conceal the bloody hole it was tearing in her chest._

_ Spasms racked her._

_ All nature was tearing itself to pieces._

_ Alone._

_ Crying out the names that no longer mattered,_

_ Knowing that even if they heard, they would never come._

_ Her last thought betrayed her, the name she had sworn to never utter again on her lips._

_ Nico…_

Bianca sobbed harder.

_Oh, Ryley._

* * * * * * * * * *

Rylin

It was like losing _him _all over again.

Eyes blurry with a hazy fog, I stumbled down the path, just wishing I could sink to the ground and drown in earth and return to my mother, to my father. I imagined his soft brown eyes.

_You did good, Rylin. Real good._

My feverish brain continued up the pretense of joyful memories, trying to tear my mind away from the pain. I gripped a tree, sinking down onto my knees, pressing my face against the soil.

I lay there shuddering, the gasps and sobs ripping their way out of my throat.

_Take me. Take me NOW_.

Rozielle's face blossomed in front of my eyes, crouching down in front of me, her gentle fingers brushing my chin, just enough to hold it up. I gazed heartbrokenly into her beautiful glorious face, my eyesight spotty from tears. My memories did not do her justice.

She gave me such a sad smile that it would have broken my heart if I'd had one left.

_Oh, Ryley. _She whispered.

Lyss materialized beside her. It was a sign of how far gone I was that I didn't even attempt to back away, to scrabble backwards from my best friend. I kept my face pressed against Roz's hand as if my life depended on it. Lyss crossed her arms, a memorable scowl spreading across her face. I remembered that scowl very well; the dark sparkle in her eyes that she sometimes got when something wasn't going her way.

_Where is he? _Lyss screamed silently, the scowl erased from her face. It had been replaced by pain.

_She doesn't know anything, _Rozielle murmured, her hand still on my face. She looked up at Lyss, sympathy sparkling in her light eyes. _I'm sorry._

_ The Oracle has to be wrong! _Lyss spat, her arms uncrossing as she let her head drop. _This can't happen to HIM, of all people._

She turned her face away as she faded, rippling away into the twilight. It was the first time I had ever seen Lyss cry.

Rozielle reluctantly dropped her hand from my face as she melted back.

"Don't leave me here!" I yelled. "I want to die!"

The mud soaked into my clothes as I curled up on the ground, but I didn't care. I barely noticed as the rain started to fall, as thin shadows gathered around the clearing, all wild, all hearts broken as their queen lay wishing for death. They parted for another shadow that slipped lithely into the clearing, eyes on Ryley. And still the rain poured.

The shadow sat down next to the goddess's head. Slowly she lifted it and set it in her lap, shuddering as Ryley's sobs rocked her. She closed her eyes tight.

I gradually began to realize my surroundings. My head was no longer cold. Someone was stroking my hair, a warm hand that left a tingling sensation in its wake. I wondered if Rozielle had come back for me.

I opened my eyes.

I had no name for the fiery ones that met mine. They were warmth, they were love; everything I had been unknowingly longing for in the past. Heat burned through me as I looked into the depths of her eyes that were uncannily like a flame themselves. Images danced inside the flickering embers.

A beautiful woman laughing. A young girl swinging a strangely shaped sword, overbalancing and falling to the ground, then standing once again, biting her lip in determination. Then the inferno shifted and reached for the sky with long thin fingers, raging instead of warm. I tasted fear.

The same girl was crouching in the burning rubble, holding one bloody arm, the other gripping the same glowing blade that twisted around her forearm. Her opponent shifted in the shadows flickering, fleeing from the flames among the ruins. I caught a glimpse of dark eyes, narrowed.

My face was getting wet. Cold liquid furrowed through the grime on my face, and I desperately longed for it to stop. Leave me alone.

The girl holding me was crying.

"Your pain is so intense," she murmured, lifting her right hand and wiping away the tears. Her fiery eyes burned behind the fog. "How do you hold it all in, all this pain?"

"Barely," I muttered.

Her eyes flickered. "You've got more than three hundred years' worth of pain holed up."

I shrugged, my shoulders brushing her knees. "You know what they say- no pain, no gain."

She stifled a laugh behind her right hand.

I briefly wondered what she had seen in my eyes as I had gazed into hers. She was hiding something from me, something vital and important.

"Who are you?" I whispered softly, knowing she would hear me despite the storm. I was suddenly very, very, afraid of the answer.

"I'm Althea. Althea Dray." Then she saw the look in my eyes. Her jaw tightened as a steely look glazed over her eyes as they still stared into mine, warming me despite the chilliness that was radiating from her.

"I'm a daughter of Hestia."

* * * * * * * * * *

**SYSTEM ERROR**

* * * * * * * * * ***  
**

The next chappie's gonna be an arc. Just cause I wanted to make one, so deal with it. Yeah. Rylin's gonna have a problem with the local satyrs living in the forest. Jay, Melina, and Hunter are going to discover the amazing powers of Chuck E. Cheese.

Why did they go there? You ask.

Well, you're just going to have to find out.

Ciao, for now. :D


	10. Chapter 9

I'm sorry, this isn't the promised arc. But it's very important to the plot, and the arc is taking way too long to type up. So here's something to tide you guys over until then.

Dedication: Misthorse, you rock my world.

* * * * * * * * * *

**(the past breathes)**

High above the city, dark shadows rippled in the thin light, lost among the dying, dancing beams. The dark fed on the light here, fed on life itself in the world of dead. Thousands of years had passed, yet everything remained the same, endless circle as before, never pausing, never hesitating. A single thought floated out into the nothing, as conscious and as alive as they came.

_It never hesitates to kill people._

Feet hanging off the edge of the drop of thousands of feet, she stared out into the expanse before her, dark bags beneath her eyes. She rubbed them absently, dropping her face into her hands with a slight sigh that barely ruffled the darkness. It crept forward.

The city did nothing to lighten the Underworld. It was dead. A ghost past kept it firmly in place, held in check by her father, the king. The dark, brooding king, who lusted after his brothers' realms, lost in the blaze of his own cravings for power. They were all the same.

Lyss shivered, drawing her knees up to her hollow chest. Her own skin was icy to her, shocking her briefly out of her thoughts with a menacing jolt.

A voice whispered in her ear, a soft breath crawling down her already sensitive, hyperaware skin, and breezing through her being. Ghost or not, she couldn't mistake her instinct to flee.

"Jump, daughter of Hades."

Something sharp found its way into her back, and she cried out in pain, the blade tearing through her essence, as it absorbed a bit of her soul. Lyssa's memories of earth, floating in her mind, dimmed and then flickered out.

Somehow she managed to turn around.

Gasping as wisps of herself sank through the heavy air to the ground, shavings of a masterpiece, dwindling into nothing.

"Max," she whispered under her breath. "Max…" Her dark eyes faded into the distance as the blade continued to cut, to sink deep into her mind. As the shattered pieces of her soul fell apart, she continued to whisper, the echoes of his name becoming softer and softer, until her voice had become nothing.

Until the darkness had swallowed her voice whole.

Something blocked out her sight. Dark shadows shifting, the blade tearing free of her chest. Lyss was aware of these things, but she couldn't quite remember how to move. How to be herself.

"It's all right, Lyss," someone murmured. It was faded, softly coming to her as though through a veil, clear sight and no sound. "Everything is fine."

She pulled herself up on her elbows blindly, breathing in deeply. A familiar warm scent wrapped around her, teasing gently as she leaned forward desperately, the memory lost amid the cracks of her mind. She didn't give it a second thought. All that mattered was finding the owner of the soft, gentle scent that was tickling her nose…

Her forehead hit something with a soft _whump_. She pressed her face against it, inhaling gratefully, for she had never wanted something more in her life. A low chuckle greeted her, again through that unseen filter.

"Calm down, Lyss."

It was him. But who was he, again? The memory slipped from her grasp.

A gentle hand pushed her away from inspecting the scent. "I think that's enough."

Lyss broke. It most certainly was NOT enough! That familiar smell….maybe if she kept sniffing it, she'd remember… She shoved her face back against the hand and caught the scent head on.

It whirled into place with startling clarity.

It was a single white cloud, sparkling its pure light, surrounded by the streaked November sky as the sun retreated home, leaving in its tracks its dying rays, which illuminated the single blotch of white in a sea of dark purples. Snatches of the memory came back to her, flashing quickly in front of her gaze.

Her fingers knotted in the grass. The dark sky hung above, dripping its color into the world, unable to hold on any longer as its sun slid beneath the surface of the liquid horizon. Wind tugged at her hair, blowing it teasingly across her forehead, laughing as she tried to snatch it away. Through it all, Lyss was aware of his eyes on her, quietly smothering a grin behind blue eyes.

The name arose in her mind. Max.

Pain expanded across her chest as the memory was torn from her against her will. _No!_

"Get away from her!" someone yelped, bringing her, exploding with pain, back to earth. Lyss's eyes were squeezed tightly shut, against the hurt, and against the painful memories that she could never escape. Because it was near impossible to forget, with a memory going on 300 years old.

Lyss cradled her hollow chest as ice raked through, stunningly cruel and angry as it tore away her heart. The blade of her enemy protruded through her empty center, and out the small of her back, sucking away the remains of her soul.

A voice. It was speaking softly, yet dangerously, as sharp and demanding as a sword.

"I said," the voice growled murderously, "Let her go."

There was an icy pause.

"Your authority means nothing in this territory, daughter of the King. Nor does it mean anything to me." The enemy took a rattling breath. "Step aside."

"You'll regret crossing me," the voice warned, silky and still razor sharp.

Lyss opened her eyes to slits. The blade of a long, ebony sword was inches from her nose, still buried deeply in her chest. She slowly glanced up the blade, but her enemy had his eyes fixed on a figure standing a couple feet away.

Her light was blinding. Long, cascades of blonde locks tumbled gently down her shoulders, touching her pure white dress inlaid with gold. Roses blossomed on her cheeks. Then there were her eyes.

They were a startling shade of emerald green. A green that was enhanced by a light speckling of freckles that dotted her nose, like they'd been drawn there by a pen. Anger sparked from them, singeing the very air that stood in her way.

It hadn't been noticeable before, but Lyss could see a small circlet of gold sitting atop her golden curls, glittering in her light. _Daughter of the King._

The words took on a heavy new meaning.

Behind the King's daughter, eyes melted out of the nothing of the darkness. They looked eerily like a wolf's, glowing lamp-like and impossibly patient in the soft glow. A gentle brown, rippling darker and darker as they settled on the enemy.

"You've gone too far, Alcander," she whispered gently. "Remember yourself."

The boy standing over Lyss shook his head angrily. "You don't understand! The gods have given you everything so effortlessly, anytime you wanted it! We have never had it as easily." His eyes took on an insane glint as he continued, his voice hissing and ugly compared to the princess's soft voice. "You will NEVER understand! We weren't meant to be like you…your hatred drove me to this!"

He whirled on Lyss, dragging the blade through her essence roughly, intending to cause pain. Lyss cried out, curling tighter around herself. Shuddering, she felt the tears well, behind her black eyes and pale, drained face. She was frightened, for someone she couldn't remember.

Soft black hair. Sky blue eyes, glowing in warmth.

Her best friend.

The girl with the brown eyes bounded forward faster than light, knocking Alcander aside with a rough shoulder. Lyss stared in shock at the softly furred tail that dangled behind her, curled defensively around her legs. The girl flashed a brief smile.

The King's daughter floated forward, resting a hand on Alcander's arm gently, staring into his eyes. Surprised, he raised his face, defiantly glaring up at her. They made a strange pair; the beautiful, gentle princess, the angry, dark boy at her feet. Their faces were inches apart, neither backing down.

Suddenly his face relaxed. All the hostility leached out of his eyes, and he slowly sunk against the ground, trembling visibly. "I'm sorry, princess. I'm so, so sorry."

She gently slipped one hand under his chin, lifting it to look into his eyes. Hers were full of love.

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Alcander."

Leaning forward, she pressed her mouth against his. Alcander sighed softly. Time slowed down as he turned into dust, blowing down over the cliff, down to the city. To the Citadel of the Dead.

The King's daughter turned her gorgeous eyes on Lyss, after following Alcander almost wistfully. Something sorrowful shone in her eyes; the next moment, it had disappeared.

"Do you know me, child?"

"I'm no child," Lyss spat. "I bet my life was longer than yours, _princess_."

The girl with the tail bounced forward, eyes narrowed in fury.

"Don't you dare! Don't you know who you're talking to, you-"

"Calm down, Rozielle," the princess murmured softly. "She doesn't know."

_Rozielle?_

_ No _freaking_ way._

"I would have thought being with Rylin would have taught her some manners, at least…" Rozielle sulked. She crossed her arms, her tail twitching in irritation. "And after all those good things Ryley told us about _Alyssa_, she's a true child of Hades at heart. Why don't we just leave her here, Cel?"

Admittedly, Lyss didn't know much about Rozielle.

But if she could remember anything about the daughter of Apollo, it was this: she had always been there for Rylin. Lyss hadn't. The daughter of Hades could see little bits of Rylin in every movement Rozielle made, little traits and habits she had picked up from the Titan goddess, always carrying herself with grace and defiance. They had become so close that it was impossible to tell one from the other.

Until Rozielle had been killed.

Despite Rozielle's glare, Lyss felt something move in her heart. She bit back tears.

_Rozielle was a better friend to Rylin than I'll ever be._

"Rozielle," Lyss began hesitantly.

"Yes?" she all but snapped.

"Thanks…..for being there for her when I wasn't. For taking care of her." Lyss turned to stare at the dead city, still lovely, still beautiful. How did it do it?

Somehow, Rozielle knew what they were talking about. There was a soft crunch as she stepped forward, placing her hand on Lyss's shoulder. She whispered into Lyss's ear, "It was harder than it looked. She's always been tough and stubborn, even now, with her boyfriend problem to deal with." Lyss could hear the grin in her voice.

"It was enough of a challenge for Max, Ben, and me too," Lyss whispered back, smiling gently.

The King's daughter stepped forward, her dress whispering over the rock cliff.

"That is exactly why we need your help, Alyssa Janaya," she said quietly. "Rylin can't do this on her own. She needs all of us now."

"Us?" Lyss asked, struggling to keep her voice from shaking. She saw the princess turn her face away, eyes closed tightly with pain as she trembled. Something flashed as she raised her arms to wrap around her chest, to keep from caving in.

Long, raw, ugly scars crossed up and down her forearms, marring her perfect skin.

"_Celine_?" Lyss gasped.

When Lyss had poured her life into Rylin, little had she known that she would gain more than a permanent place in the Underworld. She had stolen a part of Rylin for herself, greedily hiding it away from the rest of the world like some coveted treasure.

Because of her selfishness, she could hear Rylin's thoughts.

_Celine fell to depression soon after. I turned a blind eye to her cutting._

_If only I had known it would escalate to something so much worse._

The Celine of Rylin's memories.

The true daughter of the King. The best strategist Camp Halfblood had ever seen.

Something slipped into place. _Us?_

There was only one thing in common that the three of them had. Lyss's gaze skipped from Celine's eyes to Rozielle's back, where she was hugging the King's daughter, patting her shoulder softly. "It's okay, Cel. You tried. You really did, but it was our time to go." The daughter of Apollo soothed.

"All of us? You mean…" Lyss began.

Celine turned her soft, teary eyes on Lyss and nodded slowly.

"The only people Rylin ever loved."

* * * * * * * * * *

Expect the arc in a couple weeks. I'm super busy, so yeah. You're gonna have to wait.

Reviews, anyone?


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